President Park stresses `persistent regulation reform`

President Park Geun-hye stressed on Thursday the necessity of regulation reform, saying, “Regulatory reform must be pursued persistently until the public say ‘It is enough.’”

“To revive the domestic economy for sure, investment is the most critical factor. Bad regulations that hamper investment must be abolished,” said President Park over a meeting of economy-related ministers at the government complex in Sejong City on the same day. Her statement shows strong will to put spurs in the second half of this year to regulatory reform that she initiated with the debate held this March.

Park reiterated to the ministers, “(We) should think about the global market trends when pursuing the regulatory reform. Otherwise, we will become ‘a frog in the well’ with such narrow views and end up with being ridiculed by the world.” Regarding the deadly Sewol ferry accident, Park added, “Necessary regulations for the safety and environment preservation must be tightened. It is necessary to review how to develop safety into an industry.”

President Park also announced a plan to perform a full-scale safety inspection on the private and public facilities including public schools in the latter half of this year. “We need manpower and technology to conduct such a big-scale safety inspection. This is an untapped market,” said Park.