The Legislative Approach toward Traditional Liquor of Korean Local Government

Abstract

In the industrial structure of Korea, agriculture was recognized as a relatively inferior field of industry. Further, it is anticipated that the agriculture field would bear the brunt of the blow s estimated as a field getting the greatest blow from the FTA currently under negotiation between Korea and tue US as well as between Korea and the EU. Korean farmers, while strenuously opposing the conclusion of the FTA, are making active efforts to develop local specialty produce to shore up the industry and improve competitiveness. If their efforts are successful, such local specialty produce could be distributed not only domestically but overseas as well. To that end, research and development for improving farming technology and marketing techniques would be critical, but the improvement of legal system would prove to be just as important. There have been many previous researches on how to improve the current regulatory systems pertaining to traditional liquor in order to turn the Korean traditional liquor into a competitive export product similar to French wine. This paper differs in significant aspects from the previous research papers in that it introduces the existing legal system concerning traditional liquor after the changes implemented by the Lee Myung Bak administration and deals with the issues associated with legalization of the Liquor Tax Affair Handling Regulation (“LTAHR”) and validity of an integrated legislation in respect of tradition liquor as reform approaches. While the governmental control and regulations have continued with respect to manufacture and sale of liquors, the recent trend shows that such restrictions are gradually being relaxed. While the traditional liquor including folk liquor and farmer’s liquor are showing results of improvement little by little, the current production level and the quantity of output for export are still very insignificant. In order to revitalize the manufacture and sale of traditional liquors, it has been investigated whether there are problems in the existing legal system itself concerning the traditional liquor. Evaluation of the legal system on traditional liquor reveals that there are many issues to be considered such as whether to admit the legal nature of the LTAHR, the issue of making the regulations on manufacture and sale of liquor independent from the Liquor Tax Law and the necessity of integrated legislation overseeing matters related to food products, agricultural products and taxation on traditional liquor. Although easing restrictions and extending support might be considered an easy solution to revitalize the export of traditional liquor, the equity issues in relation to other products and the potential risk of violating international law would need to be carefully considered. The legislative approach on traditional liquor is not to disclose any conclusion toward specific dispute relating to the manufacture and sale of traditional liquor. This paper illustrates the types of problems posed by legislations pertaining to traditional liquor against the backdrop of an ideal legal system. It can be said that the significance of this paper lies in demonstrating how the legal arguments that may arise in respect of any legal system manifest themselves in the context of traditional liquor, such as issues concerning administrative regulations having impact on rights and obligations of the people, and the benefits of a unified legal system to organize various legislations dealing with the same subject that are currently in disarray.