South Korea's Lee urges bold reform of outdated regulations to boost advanced industries

Lee made the call at the second plenary meeting of the regulation rationalization committee, which is aimed at easing regulations to help nurture advanced industries and ensure balanced development. Both goals are key initiatives of the Lee administration.

"Rationalizing regulations is an essential task in establishing an irreplaceable Republic of Korea," Lee said, reiterating his administration's push to establish global leadership in advanced industries.

He said new regulations would still be needed and should even be strengthened to protect people's lives and safety as well as social fairness and transparency. But regulations that are outdated and hamper growth should be reformed promptly, he added.

"Outdated, inconvenient regulations that block new technologies and the development of new industries should be reformed promptly and boldly," Lee said.

The president also stressed the urgency of his administration's balanced development policy and said the strategy of promoting balanced regional development should be implemented boldly. He said "megaprojects" aimed at establishing a semiconductor cluster and other artificial intelligence-related facilities in regional areas could help promote balanced development across the country.

In addition, Lee called for the removal of administrative regulations related to launching venture businesses, saying that promoting venture businesses could help create new jobs and spur economic growth.