The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for the legalization of legal tech (legal and technological combined services) and non-face-to-face remote medical consultations as campaign promises for the 21st presidential election. The party also plans to include a proposal to flexibly adapt the 52-hour workweek within the legal working hours in its pledge book to promote research and development.
The Democratic Party's special committee on small businesses announced the 'seven major policy tasks for innovative growth of small and venture businesses' at the National Assembly's communication room on the 15th. The committee has officially proposed these policy tasks to the policy committee to be reflected in the 21st presidential election pledges.
The committee emphasized that it focused on refining the institutional foundation for the future growth of small businesses. Specifically, the proposed measures include ▲legalization of artificial intelligence (AI) lawyers and home doctors ▲flexibility in the 52-hour workweek ▲a three-part package of win-win finance ▲introduction of a Korean-style discovery system ▲activation of corporate venture capital (CVC) by large corporations ▲establishment of a job network for young people with borderline intelligence ▲allowing retirement pension venture investment.
◇ AI and labor flexibility pledge emphasized by Lee
Among the seven major policy tasks, the legalization of AI lawyers and home doctors is connected to the recent emphasis by former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung on the expansion of AI services. This AI-related pledge came just a day after the former leader visited the domestic AI startup 'Puriosa AI.'
The committee's policy is to push for legalization as legal tech and non-face-to-face remote consultations are currently hindered by the Lawyer Act and the Medical Act, causing related domestic corporations to face growth difficulties. Drafting a 'Legal Tech Promotion Act' and a 'Digital Healthcare Act' is also under consideration.
However, resistance from relevant professional organizations is expected. The committee chairperson, Kwon Chil-seung, a Democratic Party member, said, "It is desirable to publicize issues that need to be decided at the time of a major election," and noted, "We must prevent industries from not developing and technologies from not being developed due to legal issues."
The flexibility of working hours, which former leader Lee mentioned since the negotiation group representative speech in February, is also included in the policy tasks. This involves amending the Labor Standards Act to allow for flexibility in the working hours of researchers and employees with shares in corporations. However, this assumes compliance with the annual legal working hours and plans to protect worker health, as well as a prerequisite of employees earning above a certain wage level.
◇ Proposal for employment support project for 'borderline intelligent individuals'
The committee has also prepared pledges to help borderline intelligent individuals secure employment in small and medium-sized enterprises. Borderline intelligent individuals are defined as those with an intelligence quotient (IQ) between 71 and 84. This group makes up about 13.6% of the total population, or approximately 7 million people, but they are in a vulnerable situation where they need support due to being caught in the gray area between disability and non-disability.
The committee plans to build a job network that supports employment placement and vocational training for borderline intelligent individuals, and will conduct projects to improve awareness of such individuals among companies and relevant associations. In particular, Representative Kwon plans to start a pilot project to support employment education and job placement for borderline intelligent individuals in his hometown of Hwaseong.
In addition, the three-part package for win-win finance includes introducing a win-win finance index for banks and small enterprises, and includes sales receivables factoring and tax credits. The Korean-style discovery system was proposed to expedite the resolution of technology infringement lawsuits involving small businesses.
Representative Kwon stated, "I will do my best to ensure that it can be reflected as an official policy of the Democratic Party," and emphasized, "I will responsibly push for legislative and budgetary measures along with system improvements to ensure that small venture companies can position themselves as the driving force of innovation in our economy and that these efforts translate into tangible results."