[THE INVESTOR] The government said on Jan. 22 that it will revise dozens of laws and regulations as part of efforts to help new technologies and industries reach their full potential, unfettered by cumbersome, outdated red tape.

The government announced the plan to amend 38 laws and regulations after a meeting, presided over by President Moon Jae-in, saying “rigid government regulations” are blocking new industries and new technologies from moving forward in an era of the fourth industrial revolution.

Under measures put together by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the government said it will adopt a sweeping system of allowing new products and technologies to get into the market first before considering whether or not regulations are necessary.

Other measures included introducing a “regulatory sandbox” so that companies in new industries can do business without regulations for a specific period of time, and rewriting laws and regulations in a broader way to make them inclusive of new industries and technologies.

For instance, the government said it will revise the law on the business of providing fuel to vessels in a way that includes not only the provision of marine fuel oil, but also liquefied natural gas and other types of fuel. That would allow LNG and other fuel providers to do such businesses, officials said.

The government said it will also revise how products are classified.

Under the current law, vehicles are defined according to structure, engine capacity and other criteria so that new types of vehicles, such as three-wheeled electric vehicles, cannot get into the market because they don‘t fall into any category.

Officials said products will be newly classified in a broader way.

In addition, the government will also revise existing regulations on gene treatment research to allow such research not only in the case of hard-to-cure diseases, such as cancer and AIDS, but also other diseases, officials said.

Officials said they will try to complete revision of enforcement ordinances and other regulations, which don’t require parliamentary approval, by March, and seek to finalize the legal revision as early as possible.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)