Seoul: On Tuesday, six major business associations issued an urgent appeal to the National Assembly to swiftly pass the Special Act on Investment in the United States. Their warning that legislative delays could weaken Korea's leverage in negotiations with Washington and erode industrial competitiveness reflected deep anxiety. In an era of extreme uncertainty in global trade, the business community sees political inaction as compounding risks.
According to Yonhap News Agency, even on the day of the appeal, rival parties remained focused on a separate set of contentious judicial reform bills. The People Power Party (PPP) staged a march from the National Assembly to the presidential office, denouncing what it called "dictatorship disguised as judicial reform." The Democratic Party (DP) criticized the protest as a political maneuver aimed at reviving former President Yoon Suk Yeol. While both parties describe the U.S. investment bill as urgent, each blames the other for delays.
With local elections three months away, partisan calculations appear to be shaping priorities. Lawmakers are wary of alienating core supporters, even as national interests require prompt action.
The proposed legislation is not complex. It would establish the necessary institutions and funding mechanisms to support $200 billion in strategic investment in the United States and an additional $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation, commitments made following the conclusion of tariff negotiations between Seoul and Washington. A measure with little substantive room for disagreement has nonetheless been stalled for months. That delay suggests a troubling detachment from the scale of potential losses facing companies and the broader economy.