National Assembly passes bills on nurse rights, rental scams in rare bipartisan move

Politics

National Assembly passes bills on nurse rights, rental scams in rare bipartisan move

Published: 28 Aug. 2024, 18:37 Updated: 28 Aug. 2024, 19:27

MICHAEL LEE
lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr

The National Assembly passes a law granting nurses greater rights and legal protection during a plenary session held on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

In a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation, the National Assembly on Wednesday passed a raft of legislation related to livelihood issues that had remained stalled due to bitter wrangling between the country’s main political parties on other bills.

The passage of the bills came almost three weeks after the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the liberal Democratic Party (DP) reached an agreement on Aug. 8 to cooperate on legislation where there is bipartisan consensus.

One such bill is a law granting victims of home rental scams the right to lease public housing for up to 20 years.

Most of the victims were swindled under the country’s unique jeonse rental system, which allows tenants to live in a property rent-free or for reduced rent over a fixed period in return for paying the landlord a large lump-sum deposit. Under the system, many forgo the potential interest that would accrue on the amount if it had been left in a bank account during their tenancy.

A nationwide investigation of jeonse fraud identified 2,995 victims who suffered damages totaling around 459.9 billion won ($344.4 million) after their landlords failed to return their deposits.

In most cases of jeonse fraud, landlords used their tenants’ deposits to buy more properties that later proved unprofitable or invested in development projects that failed to materialize.

Another bill passed by the legislature on Wednesday allows nurses to take on more responsibilities amid a prolonged shortage of medical staff due to the monthslong strike by junior doctors protesting the government’s plan to increase annual medical recruitment by 1,509 spots.

The legislation was supported by nurses, who argued they should be allowed to independently carry out some medical services, especially for elderly patients.

But the bill was strongly opposed by doctors’ groups who warned it would lead to nurses performing medical procedures without proper supervision.

Although a similar bill was vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol in May last year, the government-aligned PPP appeared to have switched its stance after negotiations with the DP.

The National Assembly also passed a bill aimed at preventing parents who neglected their children from claiming their wealth.

The legislation became known as the “Goo Hara law” after the estranged mother of the deceased K-pop star attempted to claim half of Goo’s estate, which had been inherited by her brother, Goo Ho-in.

The revised inheritance law will go into effect in January 2026.

Despite successfully passing multiple bills at Wednesday’s plenary session, the PPP and DP are likely to continue clashing on other legislation.

At the urging of the PPP, the president earlier this month vetoed a DP-sponsored bill mandating a special counsel probe into the death of a young Marine corporal who drowned during a flood rescue operation last year.

The president also rejected four DP bills intended to reduce the government’s influence over the state media watchdog and the country’s public broadcasters, as well as a bill that would implement DP leader Lee Jae-myung’s general election promise to distribute 250,000 won in cash handouts to every household.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]