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In her second year in office, President Park Geun-hye has at times used strong words to
express her intention to implement major regulatory reforms.
And on this Thursday, she is presiding over a four-hour televised debate on deregulation,
with government officials and some 60 representatives from the private sector in attendance.
Let's now connect live to our presidential correspondent Choi You-sun for details on
today's debate, which began about two hours ago.
You-sun.
Conn-young. In her opening remarks, President Park highlighted
how sweeping regulatory reforms would be the key to encouraging businesses to innovate
and actively invest, ultimately leading to job creation.
As part of her three-year economic innovation plan, laid out in her New Year's address,
the president had vowed to streamline red tape to spur economic growth.
Referring to a recent Korean drama that has become a hit in China, she said overseas fans
cannot buy the fashion products seen in dramas, because they don't have the unique electronic
identification number required for online transactions in Korea.
The president then called for government employees to be more proactive in regulatory reforms,
proposing an evaluation system where they would be rewarded for their deregulation initiatives.
She also asked for a balance between easing unnecessary regulations and boosting ones
that are required in the areas of welfare, the environment and personal information protection.
I understand the government also reported to the president a set of deregulatory measures?
That's right. The government has pledged to wipe out more
than 2-thousand economic regulations by 2016, which means bringing down the volume of registered
regulations to 80 percent of the current level. The government is hoping to complete ten percent
of the reduction by the end of this year. And a regulatory control system adopted from
the British model will be implemented next year.
The system would automatically rid the system of existing regulations upon the introduction
of new ones to ensure there's no additional cost to the public and businesses.
The debate is ongoing as we speak. President Park is listening to the private
sector's concerns and questions, and she and her ministers are exchanging views on deregulation
with participating businesses. Conn-young.
Alright You-sun, thank-you for that. Do keep us updated throughout the day.
That was our presidential correspondent Choi You-sun on President Park's push for regulatory
reforms and a debate on deregulation that's currently taking place at the presidential
office.