On August 16, 2023, the National Assembly Research Service (NARS) Chief Park Sang Chul hosted a discussion session to celebrate the publication of 2023 Annual Parliamentary Inspection Issue Analysis. The event was the first of its kind for this annual publication. More than 100 legislative researchers contributed to the making of this publication over a three-month period.
The authors selected 579 policy issues for 2023 annual parliamentary inspection and presented 34 major agenda issues based on scientific and political analysis.
During the opening ceremony, Chief Park read the preface while National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo made remarks, praising the authors for their efforts. Rep. Kim Gihyeon (representative of People Power Party) and Secretary General Lee Kwang Jae delivered congratulatory speeches. Education Committee Chair Kim Cheol-min also joined the event.
At the event, Lee Bok-woo, Director General of Politics and Administration Research Office, and Kang Dae-hoon, Director General of Society and Culture Research Office, made presentations on major issues discussed in the publication. These were followed by discussion and Q&A sessions led by Kim Jun, former Director General of Society and Culture Research Office, Won So-yeon, Director of Regulatory Policy Research at the Korea Institute of Public Administration, and Kim Cheon-gon, Head of Service Industry Research at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
Director General Lee delivered a presentation about this year’s NARS publication to date and introduced major policy issues such as adjusting the age for criminal minors. Director General Kang also discussed major economic and industrial policy issues like the securing of fiscal soundness (i.e., fiscal rule) and measures to reduce the cost of private education and strengthen public education.
Discussants at the event agreed on the publication’s significance of in terms of supplementing the shortcomings and limits of the nation’s annual parliamentary inspection. Participants also suggested the necessity of setting correct topics and analytic directions. At the same time, they proposed to build ways to utilize and disseminate the report more effectively to ensure greater interest from the general public.
Based on the outcomes of the event’s discussions, NARS will continue to strive to provide research and analytic support to members for the inspection while it continues to offer professional and active parliamentary support services.