개성공업지구 지원에 관한 법률 성격과 개요

The "Act on Support of Gaeseong Industrial Complex(the "GIC")"(the "GIC Support Act") was approved by the National Assembly on April 27, 2007. The GIC Support Act reflects requests from 15 tenant companies of the GIC and includes certain protection provisions for the South Korean kers working at the GIC. It is the outcome of the past two year development of the GIC and also a significant progress in the legal framework for the inter-Korean trade and cooperation in the South Korea From the perspective of legal integration between South and North Korean legal systems, it is a meaningful progress in that it regulates tenant companies which are in their nature North Korean companies. For instance as to labor law, tenants companies are subject to the North Korean law (the GIC Labor Regulation) with respect to North Korean workers while they are also subject to the South Korean law (the GIC Support Act) with respect to South Korean workers. Simultaneous application of both South and North Korean law is the outcome of the GIC Support Act. The harmonious interpretation of the Article 3 and 4 of the Constitutional Law and the "uniqueness" of South and North Korean relationship is deemed to be the theoretical basis for the GIC Support Act. The law mostly regulates how to support the tenant companies and protect the South Korean workers working at the GIC. By and large, most provisions focus on (ⅰ) how to support the GIC development, tenant companies and investors and (ⅱ) how to protect South Korean workers. In this article, the following points are listed as problematic: (a) lack of definition of "South Korean resident" (b) lack of clear definition of respective role of GIC developer and South Korean government; (c) the fact that it is impossible to enforce certain penalty provisions under the social insurance laws and labor laws The GIC Support Act is expected to increase the stability of the investments at the GIC and improve the exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas. It should be noted that flexibility is the key in applying this law.