South Korea implements legislative and anti-corruption reforms

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has expressed satisfaction following the National Assembly's passage of an amendment to the National Assembly Act. The amendment significantly reduces the maximum period for reviewing fast-track bills from 330 days to approximately 90 days by shortening committee review timelines.

In a separate move toward governance reform, President Lee is presiding over the first Anti-Corruption Policy Council. The meeting aims to establish comprehensive measures to eradicate local corruption, public contract fraud, and the misappropriation of national subsidies. The council includes 18 heads of relevant agencies, such as the National Police Agency and the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Additionally, the government has announced an integrated response plan to combat digital sex crimes. To address lenient sentencing for operators of illegal adult websites, authorities plan to introduce a new ‘crime of establishing illegal websites.’ This measure aims to treat site operators as primary offenders rather than mere accomplices. The plan also includes using AI to combat ‘domain shuttling’ and implementing stricter advertising regulations to cut off the revenue streams of illegal content providers.