The current Act provides that an operator of electric generation business may preferentially employ migrators and residents in a neighboring area who are made to migrate due to the construction of power plants. However, this provision is not enforceable since it is categorized as non-mandatory.

Additionally, currently the term ‘neighboring area’ means the area of a Eup/Myeon/Dong which includes the land and island located within a five-kilometer radius from the location where an electric generator of an electric power plant is already installed or to be installed. Under such a definition, however, there may not be many employable persons in the neighboring area to begin with, and criticism arises regarding the narrow definition.

Therefore, this Amendment seeks to provide more opportunities for the local youth by elevating the relevant preferential employment provisions to mandatory provisions, as well as expanding the scope of such employment to neighboring local governments which include the above-mentioned ‘neighboring area.’ (Article 17)

An operator of electric generation business shall preferentially employ migrators and residents in a neighboring area, as prescribed by Article 15. However, if a neighboring area falls under two or more local governments, the operator shall take into consideration the proportions of landmass, population, distance from the plant, location and etc. in regard to each local government in preferentially employing migrators and residents (Article 17).