During a recent assembly plenary meeting, the South Korean government passed three new laws regarding the Sewol Ferry incident: the Sewol Special Act, the National Government Organization Act, and the Yoo Byung Un Act (or the Act on Regulation of Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment).

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The Sewol Special Act is a law for which the grieving Sewol families have been requesting ever since the tragic accident. With this act, a full investigation into the truth of the Sewol incident will be conducted. A Special Act Investigative Committee, which will contain 17 members, including a chairman who originally led the grieving families, will be formed and will have 18 months to investigate.

Another fact-finding team will also be working separately from the committee to look into the Sewol accident; this team will be actively working on the case for as long as six months. Businesses are asked to cooperate with the team's investigation and to comply with their authority in order to establish the truth.

Under the National Government Organization Act, the Department of Disaster and Safety will be directed by the prime minister to make the nation a safer place. The Maritime Guard Safety Agency and the National Fire Service Agency will also be further equipped. In addition, government officials suspected to be in the mafia, an issue magnified by the Sewol disaster, will be ousted to present to the public a fairer and more transparent government.

Lastly, under the Yoo Byung Un Act, the Yoo family's assets will be used to support the Sewol grieving families. The new law also establishes that in case of any disaster where human lives are lost, criminals who are involved in the cause of such accidents will have their properties collected by the government. Third parties who help hide such criminals can also have their properties confiscated. In order to enforce this law, tax papers and financial trade documents will contain an explanation of it.

In the end, while the Sewol Special Act received 212 votes, 12 opposing votes, and 27 withdrawn votes; the National Government Organization Act received 146 votes, 71 opposing votes, and 32 withdrawn votes; and the Yoo Byung Un Act received 224 votes, 4 opposing votes, and 17 withdrawn votes.