In post-pandemic era, K-law blooms

By Lee Wan-kyu

Lee Wan-kyu, Minister of Government Legislation

For the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live our everyday lives. It has shaken society to its core. However, the end of the coronavirus pandemic is in sight.

As mandatory mask rules were lifted twice in January and March, it is not difficult to find people without face masks in the subway and library, as well as in the streets.

Flights, which had been limited for a while, have resumed. As countries around the world start to open their borders, the demand for overseas travel that was suppressed during the COVID-19 lockdowns is exploding.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of overseas departures in January this year stood at 1.78 million, an increase of 1,108.9 percent, or about twelvefold, compared to the same period last year. The Korean government will provide financial support to attract more than 10 million foreign tourists this year.

A new wind is blowing in the field of legislative exchange and cooperation, as well.

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, we had to cooperate with other countries in a contactless manner. However, the situation is returning to normal.

For example, in 2018, the Ministry of Government Legislation (MOLEG) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia (SETKAB) to share legislative trends, improve Indonesia's laws and systems and strengthen its legislative capacity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, cooperative activities could be conducted only through online seminars and video meetings.

Fortunately, as the pandemic situation improved, a director general-level meeting was held in Indonesia last September and about 10 participants, including the deputy of Political, Legal and Security Affairs of SETKAB, visited Korea. The 2022-24 Action Plan for Korea-Indonesia Legislative Cooperation was signed last November. We strived to continue exchanges and cooperation through a virtual event and the mutual visits strengthened our cooperative relations.

Foreign visiting delegations are knocking on the door of MOLEG for cooperation. I met with Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairman of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, and Tashkulov Akbar, justice minister of Uzbekistan, for closer legislative cooperation between the two countries when they visited Korea last year.

Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu speaks during a parliamentary audit on the ministry at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Oct. 13, 2022. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-keun

Last September, legislative experts from Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia and Uzbekistan attended, both in person and virtually, the Asian Legislative Experts Symposium (ALES), an international event hosted by MOLEG every year for mutual cooperation. It ended in success after in-depth discussions on each country's legal information system.

This year, MOLEG will further accelerate these endeavors. Various countries, such as Cambodia and Thailand, have already requested visits to MOLEG to learn Korea's know-how on legislative administration.

Last January, the head of the National Legal Institute of Mongolia visited MOLEG to seek advice on the operation of the Korean Law Information Center and legislative education and training.

MOLEG is also planning to visit foreign legislative organizations in the United States and Vietnam to share their legislative experiences.

The 11th ALES will be held face to face, unlike last year's symposium which was held both in person and virtually. As airlines resume their services, Asian legislative experts will be able to meet in person and discuss the present and future of legislative administration in Korea starting this year.

Our laws and systems which have been developed along with Korea's rapid economic growth are becoming a benchmark for many countries.

Asian countries from Indonesia and Vietnam, both major countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries believe that the secret of Korea's development lies in its laws and systems.

In response to such demand, MOLEG has promoted legislative cooperation by signing 31 memoranda of understanding with 16 countries since 2006. Starting this year, we will be able to share our legislative experience more actively by meeting and interacting in person with countries around the world.

Thanks to these efforts, it is expected that K-law will penetrate into the legal systems and other major systems of the societies of various countries and a Korean-friendly environment in terms of legislation will be created.

As the old saying goes, "If the weather is cold during the winter solstice, the new year will bring a good harvest." The pandemic's rampant spread froze cooperative activities in all fields, including legislation. As this winter was exceptionally cold, cooperative activities that were conducted without direct contact but produced meaningful results despite difficulties will generate bountiful achievements in the post-pandemic era.

MOLEG will not miss this opportunity and will make every effort to spread K-law across Asia. Now it is the season when K-law blooms.

Lee Wan-kyu is minister of government legislation. Before serving the role, he was a partner attorney at DongIn Law Group, and head of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office's Bucheon Branch.