Korea
Overview and recent developments
Korea has significantly improved its regulatory policy system over the recent years. Ex post evaluation is mandatory for all regulations developed by the executive and central ministries are required to outline the intended evaluation plan as part of each RIA. Korea has been putting effort into systematically implementing this approach in practice. RIAs are undertaken for all subordinate regulations in Korea and for the primary laws initiated by the executive. To increase the quality of RIA and reduce the burden of preparing RIA statements, e-RIA was launched in May 2015, providing public officials with the data necessary for cost-benefit analysis.
The Regulatory Reform Committee (RRC), which is co-chaired by the Prime Minister and a representative from the non-governmental sector, reviews all regulatory proposals from central administrative agencies throughout the regulatory cycle. This includes oversight of evaluation and stakeholder engagement processes. The Prime Minister’s Office, through its Regulatory Reform Office (RRO), serves the role of RRC’s secretariat and plays an oversight and steering role across central administrative agencies. The Public-Private Joint Regulation Advancement Initiative, led by the RRO and non-government organisations, regularly consults with public stakeholders. Two regulatory research centres, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), support cost-benefit analysis, provide guidance and training and conduct evaluations of the regulatory policy framework.
Consultations are conducted for all regulations initiated by the executive and recent efforts aim to increase the transparency of consultation processes. The e-Legislation Centre launched in 2016 and the Regulatory Information Portal inform the public in advance about upcoming consultations and regulators are required to provide feedback on the comments submitted through these portals. Korea also introduced the petition system “Regulatory Reform Sinmungo” to alert the government to unnecessary burdens on business and citizens and the “Cost-in, Cost-out” rule in 2016 after an initial pilot phase.
Indicators presented on RIA and stakeholder engagement for primary laws only cover processes carried out by the executive, which initiates approx. 13% of primary laws in Korea. Primary laws initiated by parliament are not accompanied by a RIA and not always supported by stakeholder engagement. To further improve the regulatory quality in Korea, there should be regulatory quality check mechanisms put in place for regulations initiated by the National Assembly.
Notes: The more regulatory practices as advocated in the OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance a country has implemented, the higher its iREG score. The indicators on stakeholder engagement and RIA for primary laws only cover those initiated by the executive (11% of all primary laws in Korea).
Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Surveys 2014 and 2017, http://oe.cd/ireg.