President Lee Jae-myung on the 3rd installed the Presidential Commission on Strengthening Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry (hereinafter the Semiconductor Special Commission) at a Cabinet meeting and reviewed and approved 18 promulgation bills, including the Special Act on Strengthening Competitiveness and Support for the Semiconductor Industry, which supports the expense of building industrial infrastructure related to semiconductor clusters, and 10 presidential decrees.
The special act also laid the legal groundwork to establish the Semiconductor Innovation Growth Support Team under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, in addition to the Semiconductor Special Commission under the president. Accordingly, the minister of trade, industry and resources may designate semiconductor clusters to build an innovation ecosystem for the semiconductor industry. The central and local governments will also build and support industrial infrastructure related to semiconductor clusters and prioritize support for all or part of the related expense.
In particular, the ministers of planning and budget and of science and ICT will prioritize selecting industrial infrastructure projects for semiconductor clusters as subjects of preliminary feasibility studies and, if necessary, may exempt the preliminary feasibility study itself. In addition, the central and local governments will be allowed to provide tax support to corporations related to the semiconductor industry.
The Cabinet also passed a promulgation bill partially amending the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act to include energy expense such as fuel, heat, and electricity in the scope of the subcontract (delivery) price indexation system when they account for 10% or more of the delivery price. The current subcontract price indexation system is limited to "major materials and supplies that account for 10% or more of the subcontract item," leaving energy expense out of the adjustment scope.
A bill to amend the Special Act on Protection of Rights of Sufferers, Truth‑Finding, and Prevention of Recurrence of October Itaewon Disaster also cleared the Cabinet. To ban secondary harm to the victims and sufferers, the amendment provides that ▲ applications for recognition as a victim and applications for payment of support funds must be filed within six months after the end of the investigation committee's activities ▲ the statute of limitations for claims for damages is set at five years. While the statute of limitations for damages is three years under the Civil Act, it has been extended to five years from the date the damage and perpetrator became known to protect victims' rights.
To raise public awareness of the spirit of the Constitution, the government also reviewed and approved a promulgation bill partially amending the Act on Public Holidays to re-designate Constitution Day (July 17) as a holiday.