The following is a summary of Deputy Prime Minister Choi’s remarks at the 5th Cabinet meeting.
The special act on the establishment of the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) will be promulgated after passing through the Cabinet meeting today. The space industry offers limitless opportunities to contribute to the development of various advanced technologies, providing humanity with a better life. At the same time, it represents the near future that our children and teenagers will face. With a successful launch of the locally-developed space rocket Nuri and the lunar orbiter Danuri leading Korea to become one of the seven space powerhouses, the government is now devoted to preparing for the space age with the goals of lunar resource exploration in 2032 and Mars landing in 2045. In particular, since the early days of the administration, the government has been diligently working for the establishment of a dedicated space agency, KASA, which is finally set to officially kick off at the end of May. KASA is expected to play a central role in making Korea a space powerhouse as a flexible research and development organization mainly led by experts and projects. I call for a concerted effort by all ministries to ensure a meticulous preparation for the successful launch of KASA, particularly focusing on its organizational structure, budget allocation, domestic and international talent recruitment, discovery of global cooperation projects, and the establishment of subordinate regulations.
A revision bill is currently pending in the National Assembly to grant a two-year grace period for applying the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to companies with fewer than 50 employees. Although the importance of workers’ safety cannot be disputed under any circumstances, it is also an undeniable reality that SMEs remain underprepared and ill-equipped to be subject to the Act due to their financial constraints. Enforcing the law on adequately prepared workplaces may lead to the mass production of violators rather than achieving the initial legislative purpose of preventing accidents, potentially shaking the very existence of companies. For these reasons, the government has devised measures to serve its legislative purpose despite the temporary delay of law enforcement by developing the ‘Intensive support and supervision for sectors vulnerable to serious accidents including SMEs’ at the end of last month.
I earnestly request the National Assembly swiftly pass the amendment, considering the challenging circumstances facing SMEs. The government will be committed to ensure a prompt implementation of the law as soon as it passes through the National Assembly while doing its best to supporting the safety of workers.
Please refer to the attached files.
