법제처 로고

In the post-COVID-19 era, K-law blooms

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 and has shaken the society to its core. However, the end of the coronavirus pandemic is in sight. As the mask mandate was lifted twice in January and March, it is not difficult to find people without face masks in the subway and library, as well as on the streets. Flights which had been limited for a while were resumed. As countries around the world start to open borders, 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 of this year stood at 1.78 million, an increase of 1,108.9% (about 12 times) compared to the same period of 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. Due to the prolonged COVID-19, we had to cooperate with other countries in a contactless manner. However, the situation is back 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. In the time of COVID-19 outbreak, however, cooperative activities could be conducted only through an online seminar and video meeting. Fortunately, as the pandemic situation got better, a Director General-level meeting was held in Indonesia last September and about 10 persons, including the Deputy of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs of SETKAB, visited Korea and the 2022-2024 Action Plan for Korea-Indonesia Legislative Cooperation was signed last November. We strived to continue exchange and cooperation through a virtual event, but 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, Minister of Justice of Uzbekistan, for closer legislative cooperation between two countries when they visited Korea last year. 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 discussion 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 of the United States and Vietnam to share legislative experience of each other. The 11th ALES will be held in a face-to-face way, unlike last year’s symposium that 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 that are 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. Driven by 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 more actively share our legislative experience by meeting and interacting in person with countries around the world. Thanks to these efforts, it is expected that K-law would penetrate into a legal system and other major systems of the society of various countries and a Korean-friendly environment in terms of legislation would be created.

As an old saying goes, “if the weather is cold during the winter solstice, the new year will bring a good harvest.” COVID-19’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-COVID-19 era. MOLEG will not miss this opportunity and give every effort to spread K-law across Asia. Now it is the season when K-law blooms.