As the April general election draws near, political parties are competitively pouring out corporate reform plans. The sudden impetus toward corporate reform could be seen as the customary practice of political parties bashing chaebol before a major election.

But this time, there seems to be more to it. Their attack on the chaebol is gaining traction amid a growing perception that the incumbent government’s corporate policy has only benefited chaebol at the expense of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Last week, Park Geun-hye, head of the ruling Grand National Party’s emergency leadership council, put chaebol leaders on alert by suggesting the need to strengthen regulations on fair trade.

Referring to the present administration’s abolishment in 2009 of the restrictions on corporate equity investment, she said the measure failed to serve its intended purposes of stimulating corporate investment and creating decent jobs.

Rather, she said, it encouraged chaebol owner-families to pursue private interests through unfair practices. She was referring to the widely reported practices of chaebol children making easy money by setting up their own companies and then getting sweet deals from group affiliates.

Park stopped short of calling for a revival of the repealed regulation as doing so could hinder corporations from investing in key sectors. Instead, she called for toughening of the fair trade act to prevent chaebol siblings from abusing related-party transactions.

On top of this, the GNP’s emergency council is set to roll out a set of reform measures as part of its efforts to shake off the party’s pro-big business image.

The ruling party’s reform gesture has pushed its main rival, the Democratic United Party, toward a more aggressive agenda. The party’s new leadership has already vowed to revive the abrogated regulation on corporate equity investment.

The rule, if reintroduced as envisioned by the DUP, would ban affiliates of the top 10 chaebol groups from investing in other companies in excess of 40 percent of their net worth.

The party claimed that the abolition of the equity investment ceiling paved the way for chaebol groups to muscle into business fields deemed appropriate for SMEs.

The DUP has also pledged to raise corporate taxes, promote a strict separation of commerce and finance to protect financial consumers, eliminate discrimination against irregular workers and empower trade unions to recommend directors on the board of their companies.

The two parties’ call for chaebol reform got a boost from President Lee Myung-bak, who chastised chaebol scions on Wednesday for jumping into business areas traditionally the preserve of micro-enterprises, such as bakeries, coffee shops and makers of “sundae” (Korean blood sausage) and fermented bean paste.

Chaebol offspring, he said, might run these businesses as a hobby or pastime but they threatened the livelihood of people who operate neighborhood bakeries or mom and pop stores.

Following Lee’s scathing criticism, Hotel Shilla announced on Thursday that it would pull out from Artisee, a high-end bakery and cafe chain set up by Lee Boo-jin, eldest daughter of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and chief executive officer of the hotel.

Ourhome, a foodstuff producer affiliated with LG Group, also announced it would withdraw from the sundae and bean paste businesses.

The prompt reaction shows that chaebol families are feeling the heat from political circles. According to news reports, lawmakers’ offices at the National Assembly are crowded with executives of chaebol groups these days.

Chaebol executives are there to lobby lawmakers not to introduce bills that would constrain their groups or their owner-families. Yet these efforts are futile. They would only increase the public’s resentment toward chaebol and induce lawmakers toward tougher steps against them to win the hearts of the electorate.

Instead of trying to lobby lawmakers, chaebol groups need to look back on what they have done in recent years. They have increased the number of subsidiaries sharply, expanded their business areas without any consideration of SMEs and helped the offspring of their owner-families accumulate wealth through shady methods.

Now, there is a broad consensus on the need to regulate chaebol’s reckless expansion and reform their unfair practices. Chaebol groups have to face the music and should endeavor to clean up their act.

Lawmakers, for their part, need to be not overzealous about chaebol reform. They need to set out a few red lines for them but should not restrict their ability to invest in new growth areas. Like it or not, chaebol groups are still the main engine of the nation’s economy.