Permitting Beach Fireworks, While Strictly Preventing Crime
Occurrence and Consumer Harm
- In July, a total of 156 statutes, including the Act on the Use and Management of Bathing Beaches, will come into effect.
Starting in July, various measures aimed at improving citizens' quality of life and strengthening the social safety net will be implemented, including partial allowance of beach fireworks, expansion of education access and protection support for student victims of sexual violence, introduction of crime prevention facilities for single-operator and female-owned small businesses. The Ministry of Government Legislation (Minister Cho Won-cheol) announced that a total of 156 laws and regulations will take effect this July. Some of the key details and enforcement dates of the forthcoming statutes are as follows.
Partially Allowing Fireworks at Beaches under Local Ordinances
(Act on the Use and Management of Bathing Beaches, July 1)
Regulations on beach usage will be eased to improve convenience for beachgoers during the summer season and revitalize local economies. Previously, fireworks were prohibited in all beach areas. Under the revised regulations, however, the use of toy fireworks will be permitted in designated locations and at specified times as determined by local ordinances of special self-governing provinces, cities, counties, and districts (Si/Gun/Gu).
Expanding the Scope of Attendance Approval for Student Victims of Sexual Violence and Systematizing Disqualification Verification Process for Support Facility Staff (Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act, July 1)
Institutional measures will be strengthened to help victims of sexual violence return to their daily lives and enhance the safety and reliability of victim support facilities. Moving forward, if the victimized students are absent due to medical treatment or psychological counseling, these periods shall be recognized as attendance to ensure students can concentrate on recovery without academic disadvantage. In addition, by establishing clear criminal background check procedures for facility staff, including counselors, we will enhance the transparency and reliability of the procedures for verifying disqualifying factors. Furthermore, victims who are minors at the time of admission to care facility will be allowed to extend their stay until the age of 25 upon request. The legal basis for self-reliance support funds and allowances provided upon leaving such facilities will also be clarified.
Preventing Crime Occurrence and Strengthening the Safety Net for Single-Operator and Women-Owned Small Businesses (Act on the Protection of and Support for Micro Enterprises, July 1)
A new legal support system will be introduced to protect single-operator and women-owned small businesses from crime risks. The government may conduct surveys on crime risks faced by such businesses and implement support programs, including the provision of safety equipment and installation of digital security systems such as emergency alarms and AI-based intrusion detection devices.
Stricter Accountability of E-commerce Platforms and More Effective Consumer Remedies (Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, July 21)
In response to the expansion of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions and changes in the digital marketplace, new measures will be introduced to strengthen consumer protection and improve transparency in transaction practices. E-commerce brokers are obliged to cooperate in dispute resolution by providing the identity details and transaction records of individual sellers upon the request of a dispute mediation body, a court, or a consumer in the event of a dispute between an individual seller and a consumer. They must also clearly disclose standards for deleting user reviews and procedures for raising objections in advance. Additionally, the consent decree system will be introduced for rapid consumer relief. Under this system, if the Fair Trade Commission recognizes that a business under investigation proposes appropriate voluntary corrective measures, the official deliberation stops and a final decision aligned with the proposed measures is issued instead.
