The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party clashed on Monday over plans to introduce substitute holidays.

Under the proposed plan, employers will be required to give employees a day off during the week when a public holiday falls on a Sunday.

While the DUP pushed for the measure to be put to vote at the Security and Public Administration Committee’s general meeting on Monday, the ruling party resisted the motion, calling for further discussions.

“Introducing the substitute holiday system is premature. The government is approaching the issue with caution, and as the law would be implemented in 2015 there is time (for further discussion),” Rep. Kim Young-joo of the Saenuri Party said.

“There will be no problems even if it is passed in September’s regular session of the National Assembly. (The measure) should be held off on until the government proposes an alternative.”

The plans have been strongly opposed by the country’s business community, which claims that the system would incur massive additional labor costs and production losses for corporations. According to estimates from the pro-business lobby Korea Employers Federation, the system could cost local corporations more than 32 trillion won ($28.9 billion) a year.

For its part, the government has been cautious about the measure.

“There are big differences between designating (public holidays) by law and by presidential decree. The autonomy of the private sector could be violated,” Minister of Security and Public Administration Yoo Jeong-bok told the public administration committee on Thursday. Yoo also argued that 80 percent of self-employed people and 75 percent of homemakers opposed the substitute holiday system, citing a survey conducted in 2011.

In contrast, more than 90 percent of those responding to a recent survey conducted by an online recruiting service provider said that they approved of the system.

The plans to temporarily abolish the real estate acquisition tax, however, were approved by the committee without much friction.

Under the measure, the acquisition tax will be exempted for first-time home buyers whose annual income is less than 70 million won. The figure includes the income of the home buyer’s spouse, and the measure will be applied to transactions that have taken place since April 1.

Aside from the regulation changes under discussion, the Saenuri Party was revealed to be reviewing a proposal to revise regulations concerning the procedure of arresting lawmakers.

Under the proposal, championed by Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the ruling party, the government will be required to obtain arrest warrants for incumbent lawmakers before it can file a request for consent to arrest.

At present, the authorities need to submit a petition regarding the arrest of a lawmaker before the warrant can be issued.

Although the lawmakers behind the proposal argue that giving the consent of arrest before warrants are issued could influence the courts’ decisions, critics say that the proposed changes would make the process of arresting lawmakers more difficult.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)