VOL.06 ㅣ January, 2014 ㅣ NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RESEARCH SERVICE ㅣ www.nars.go.kr

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• #1 Issue Brief • Title - Current Situation of KONEX Market and Directions for Improvement • Author : Kim Jung-joo (researcher; Finance and Fair Trade Team) • Published : December 30, 2013 • Summary: On July 1, 2013 the SME securities market (KONEX) was opened. However there is lingering apprehension of its failure due to its sluggish trading. This report suggests the following solutions to vitalize the market. First, participation of venture capital firms and small securities firms into nominated advisors market should be allowed. Second, to alleviate liquidity scarcity, more enterprises need to be listed and new products such as public offering funds which invest in KONEX securities should be introduced. When protective devices for investors are properly prepared, individual investor deposit criteria could be flexibly changed. Third, already existing over-the-counter SME　security market (Free Board) should be reorganized to have a differentiated role. Fourth, obscure stipulations over nominated advisor's roles need to be arranged. Lastly, unfailing safeguard for intellectual property rights owned by SME must be built up to provoke SMEs' voluntary listing effort. • #2 Field Survey Report • Title - Inspection and Improvement of School Safety - Looking at Building Access Control, School Buildings, and Facilities and Surroundings • Author : Cho In-sik (researcher; Education and Culture Team) • Summary: Based on the investigation on building access control, school buildings, facilities and surroundings, the report lays out the main tasks for the improvement of school safety: 1) improve security systems and put more staff in place to manage visitors; 2) replace the current closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) in elementary, middle and high schools with high-performance CCTV and strengthen its monitoring and management; 3) have the Committee on School Environmental Sanitation establish standards to identify hazardous facilities and prohibited activities; and 4) introduce legislation on school safety. 01.23. Current Energy Status and Legislative Tasks for the 2nd Energy Basic Plan 01.22. The Characteristics and Evaluation of PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter 01.21. Adoption of the New Street Name-based Address System: Problems and Solutions 01.20. Regulations to Promote Virtuous Cycle in the Internet Ecosystem 01.17. Post 2015 and Korea's Official Development Assistance (ODA) Policy 01.15. Multi-house Owner, Exemption of Heavy Capital Gains Tax: Current Situation and Challenges 01.14. Promoting Domestic Software in Public Sectors 01.10. Emergence of the Fourth Mobile Operator: Forecasts and Projections 01.08. Korea's Foreign Policy: Its Limitations and Challenges 01.07. Current Status of Penalty for Perjury and Cases of Other Countries 01.06. Challenges of the Current Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion System 01.03. Controversial Issues Concerning Japan's Right to Collective Self-Defense and Korea's Reaction 01.02. North Korea's New Year Address: Analysis and Forecast

From December 16 to 17, 2013, researchers from the Health, Welfare, Family and Gender Equality Team of the Society and Culture Research Office held a legislative support meeting in Geumsan County of South Chungcheong Province (Chungcheongnam-do). To conduct a field study, on December 16 researchers visited the Geumsan County Oriental Medicine Natural Healing Village of Atopy. Based on the field survey, the following day researchers held a meeting to discuss legislative support of the current issue in Geumsan County. The meeting was held for two purposes: 1) to identify problems in Geumsan County based on field studies and to collect basic materials necessary for legislative support; and 2) to address problems of the current Oriental medicine medical tourism and forecast its future directions after revision of the Medical Law in 2014. A number of issues were raised including how to protect small manufacturers of ginseng and how to spur the sluggish economy in Geumsan County after Joongbu University built its second campus in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province. As a solution to the ginseng manufacturers, researchers proposed introducing a special case clause to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act so that ginseng will be managed only through the Ginseng Industry Act. Providing policy support to the small producers to protect their products was also proposed. To address the problem of the sluggish economy, researchers suggested increasing policy support for the local university to strengthen its innovative capability to boost local industry and to establish new departments. Past Seminars and Discussions 01.16. How to Promote Virtuous Circle of Growth and Employment 01.15. Discussion on Political Changes for Vitalizing the Fire Industry Market 12.27. Political Suggestions for Metropolitan Express 12.27. Investigation Procedure for Taxable Income: Problems and Solutions-Comparison with France's Tax Procedure 12.26. Theory and Methods of Law and Economics The NARS Newsletter is issued on a monthly basis