South Korea has pursued regulatory reform with unusual intensity and consistency—yet the scope of that reform has remained remarkably narrow. Across seven administrations spanning a wide ideological spectrum from 1998 to 2024, reform agendas have converged on reducing the compliance burden borne by the regulated. Why has an ambitious reform regime been unable to move beyond burden reduction toward enhancing regulatory compliance? I introduce definitional lock-in, a form of ideational path dependence in which a foundational legal-conceptual choice becomes self-reinforcing. Korea’s Framework Act on Administrative Regulation defines regulation exclusively as the restriction of rights or the imposition of obligations. The institutional apparatus built on this definition, including regulatory registration, impact analysis, cost-in-cost-out, and sunset review, continuously reinforces the narrow concept, which is further legitimized by adherence to OECD reform benchmarks, rendering compliance enhancement structurally invisible. The two-dimensional framework proposed, which assesses reform in terms of burden reduction and compliance enhancement, offers an analytical lens for diagnosing the blind spots of reform regimes anchored in narrow regulatory definitions.

About the speaker

Dr. Seung-Hun Hong is a Research Fellow at the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) and a Visiting Fellow at Macquarie Law School. As the former Director of Regulatory Research at KIPA, he has led Korea’s largest regulatory research group, providing strategic advice to government agencies and international organisations on regulatory reform. His expertise lies at the intersection of regulatory governance and AI transformation, focusing on the democratic features of regulation and neo-republican institutionalism. His work has appeared in leading journals such as Journal of European Public Policy and Regulation & Governance. In 2026, he received the Prime Minister’s Commendation for his contributions to the nation’s regulatory reform and policy innovation.

This seminar presentation is an in-person only event. Registration is not required for in-person attendance as neither the ANU nor ACT Health conduct contact tracing.

Light lunch will be provided. 

If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please email regnet.communications@anu.edu.au.

Image credit: Seung-Hun Hong