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영어

During the process of vitalizing civic movements in Korean society, there are several distinguished characteristics such as the revitalization of social reform movements using legal methods and the generalization that leads to social changes or prevents retrogression by intervening in a law making process.
The movements include legislative movements to enact new laws as well as the movements that try to amend or abolish part of articles or laws that are insufficient or have some problems and movements that prevent undesirable amendment or introduce of wrong systems are also considered as the movement of legislation.
Citizens` organizations participate in activities including; first, presenting petition bills, second, request for assemblyman's motion, third, persuasion (lobby) for each assemblyman or party officials, fourth, presenting a written opinion, fifth, activities including making a statement at a public hearing conducted by the National Assembly or the government and etc. It is natural that each activity brings more influences if supported by a variety of activities such as presentation of research papers, on-line and off-line campaigns, a signature-seeking campaign and issuing a statement, holding a forum or a symposium, a contribution to the press.
In addition, since only one is chosen among them, they are applied to the process of whole legislative movements simultaneously or gradually.
The representative examples are the legislative movements for a business building lease protection law and the legislative movements for the class action law relating to security. In order to enact a business building lease protection law, civil society organizations established an intensive 'legislation alliance.' They extended participants by joining hands with the interested parties who feel keenly the necessity of institution, deviating from the legislative movements by expert groups or civil organizations. They also highlighted the serious problems related to business building lease and the necessity of system reform through a forum and damage reports, campaigns and signature-seeking campaign, selecting monitor projects for a regular session of the National Assembly.
Although on-line and off-line signature-seeking campaigns were conducted or campaigns at a securities were held, distributing promotional materials in order to enact class action law relating to security, the movements failed to have public participation and draw interests and supports from public opinion. However, the movement achieved the expected results and there are successful factors including active struggle with a powerful opposite groups, efforts to make 'noisy issues' and 'live issues' by responding to remarks and behaviors made by the persons who had an acrimonious dispute. Furthermore, enacting the securities-related class action law successfully as a symbol of 'chaebol reform' has become the background for the legislation movements.