`It’s the smart regulations, stupid!`

Recently in Mexico, a cat made headlines by running for mayor of a city. Morris the Cat gained popularity after declaring his candidacy for mayor of Xalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz. “He sleeps almost all day and does nothing, and that fits the profile of a politician,” his owner said in a caustic sarcasm about politicians. If politicians continue their irrelevance, South Korean voters might someday see a cat or a dog running for public office.

There is a joke about legislation proposed by lawmakers: Some lawmakers make opposing remarks or cast a vote against a bill that he or she proposed. The joke sarcastically lampoons legislators make laws without knowing the bill they proposed. It reflects the reality in which regulations that did not go through careful deliberations are churned out.

By contrast, the administration is calling for deregulation aimed at encouraging businesses to make investments. President Park Geun-hye urged her administration to implement “bold deregulation,” giving a specific instruction to change all regulations to “negative” ones allow businesses to do anything except those that are specifically banned. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok is also promoting deregulation, visiting industrial sites.

The public is confused whether regulation is a good thing or a bad thing and why deregulation is still a major issue even though all previous administrations pledged deregulations for decades. The Kim Dae-jung administration began the deregulation drive in earnest, registering all regulations and abolishing half of them. In fact, delegates from socialist countries visited Korea to learn about such drastic deregulation.

The Roh Moo-hyun administration also eased many regulations in line with the neo-liberalistic trend in the global economy. The Lee Myung-bak administration removed many regulations for big businesses. But many businesses or people cannot actually feel deregulated. According to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries, the number of registered regulations more than doubled over the past four years, rising from 5,186 in 2008 to 13,914 in 2012.

Newly made or abolished bills are even more absurd. In 2002, the Ministry of Environment transferred its right to licensing companies to handle toxic materials to local governments. After a series of environmental accidents, however, the ministry revised law to take back the right. A law that banned big businesses from entering certain business areas designated for smaller firms was abolished in 2006 under the Roh administration. But the previous Lee administration revived the law. Laws that restricted corporate cross-shareholding and limited the amount of total equity investment made by a large conglomerate were abolished by the Lee administration, only to be revived by the current administration. After repeatedly abolishing and then re-introducing regulations, Korea’s business regulations have become a sloppy patchwork.

Regulation means not only restricting one’s freedom or right but also social rules and a legal system designed for the welfare of a community. In a country that is ruled by law, laws and regulations are necessary. All regulations exist for a reason.

Therefore, proper deregulation cannot be achieved through such a campaign that calls for reducing regulations by 10 percent. Every time the government launched a deregulation drive, government bureaucrats abolished minor regulations to meet a certain target number, resulting in little actual effect. The way of thinking should be changed.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development defines regulatory reform as “rationalization of regulations.” Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, advanced countries are heading toward “better regulation” or “smart regulation,” rather than deregulation. Regulatory reform is a task that requires plenty of time and money. The government should not take a quantitative approach but upgrade the nation’s regulatory system by scrutinizing each and every regulation.

But what about all those laws and regulations that will be pouring out day after day?