[Bills in Focus] Fair franchise practices, prevention of disinformation spread

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Commercial Act

Proposed by Rep. Jeong Jun-ho (Democratic Party of Korea)

● The existing law requires corporate directors to perform duties in good faith for the interest of the company but does not hold them liable for damages inflicted on specific shareholders if the overall corporate value remains the same. Therefore, this amendment aims to protect the interest and value of shareholders by adjusting the scope of directors’ duty of loyalty to include the shareholders’ proportional interests.

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection

Proposed by Rep. Kim Jang-kyom (People Power Party)

● This amendment requires information and communication service providers to prevent the distribution of disinformation. It also imposes criminal liability or penalties on violators to reinforce the responsibility and transparency of communication services.

Promulgated Bill: Enforcement Decree of the Fair Transactions in Franchise Business Act

Competent Authority: Fair Trade Commission

● This bill aims to protect franchisees and prevent the unilateral determination of transaction conditions by requiring franchisers to negotiate with franchisees when changing transaction conditions unfavorably to the franchisee.

Administrative Announcement: Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Protection of Communications Secrets Act

Competent Authority: Ministry of Science and ICT

● Following the amendment to the Protection of Communications Secrets Acts, which grants the Minister of Science and ICT the authority to issue corrective orders to persons who fail to report the current status of the provision of communication confirmation data, this amendment bill prescribes the details and criteria necessary for its enforcement.

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The Korea Herald republishes a weekly legislative report by local law firm DR & AJU LLC to provide the latest information on bills approved, proposed, pending and set to be promulgated. -- Ed.

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For any queries about the bills, contact cr@draju.com.