Damaging consent

The Democratic Party of Korea decided to push through a bill to require the government to obtain consent from the National Assembly before allowing exports of defense articles.

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If the Defense Industry Development and Support Act is revised as written by Democratic Rep. Kim Byung-joo, the government will have to ask the Assembly if it assents to such exports. Lawmakers will then have 30 days to deliberate on the request behind closed doors and make a decision. Every instance of defense exports will have to go through this process.

If the bill becomes law, defense exports and related national security policies will be swayed by the political schemes of the majority party. At present, the minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration has the right to permit munitions exports. However, the opposition party is trying to acquire the right of de facto final approval.