Legislative Proposal Trends in the 22nd National Assembly and Policy Improvement Tasks

In a democratic country, laws are the most fundamental rules established by the National Assembly. In Korea, while the National Assembly holds exclusive authority to enact and amend statutes, both lawmakers and the government may initiate bills—making legislative initiative the crucial starting point of the lawmaking process.

However, legislative initiative is increasingly misused. Bills are often proposed without sufficient analysis or accountability, resulting in excessive and low-quality legislation, overlapping or duplicated proposals, and a “mutual favor” culture of co-sponsorship in which lawmakers endorse bills without fully understanding their content.

Regulatory legislation, in particular, has a direct impact on citizens’ lives and national competitiveness. Monitoring results by the Good Regulation Citizen Forum show that during the first 78 weeks of the 22nd National Assembly, 13,473 bills were introduced, including 4,349 regulatory bills (32.3%)—highlighting the severity of legislative overload. Qualitative analysis also suggests that proposals for “bad regulation” outnumber “good regulation,” alongside trends such as fragmented duplication and converting subordinate regulations into rigid statutory provisions.

To address these problems, this report proposes: (1) re-establishing separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, (2) clearly distinguishing Hayekian Law (general rules) from policy-driven Legislation, and (3) strengthening lawmaker accountability through enhanced monitoring and a bill real-name system. Ultimately, improving legislative practices requires a stronger commitment to constitutional principles such as the rule of law and separation of powers.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction: Why Reviewing Legislative Initiative Trends Is Necessary

1. Authority and Legal Basis for Legislative Initiatives

2. Misunderstanding and Misuse of Legislative Initiative Powers

3. The Need to Analyze Trends in Regulatory Bill Proposals

II. Analysis of Legislative Initiative Trends in the Early 22nd National Assembly

1. Monitoring of Legislative Initiatives

2. Trend Analysis of Legislative Initiatives

III. Improvement Tasks to Correct Legislative Practices

1. Re-establishing Separation of Powers Between Legislature and Executive

2. Clear Distinction Between Law and Legislation

3. Strengthening Lawmaker Accountability: Monitoring and a Bill Real-Name System

4. Clarifying the Rule of Law and Separation of Powers

Reference

LINK: https://www.cfe.org/20251216_28404