KCCI Expresses Concern Over 'Empty Shell' at New Year's Meeting

President Moon and Heads of 4 Major Groups Absent
Concerns Over Communication Gap Between Government and Business Sector

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The 'New Year's Greeting Meeting,' the largest annual event in the business world, is increasingly likely to become a 'hollow shell' due to the successive absences of key figures from politics and business. Inside and outside the business community explain that the diminishing role of the New Year's Greeting Meeting, which has served as a communication channel between the government and the business sector, recently reflects the widening gap between the two sides.

According to the business community on the 3rd, all the heads of the four major groups?Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG?as well as President Moon Jae-in, will be absent from the New Year's Greeting Meeting hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, that afternoon.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that the Blue House gave the final notice of President Moon's absence in early December last year when the invitations for the New Year's Greeting Meeting were sent out, and they also did not receive any attendance confirmations from the heads of the four major groups.

Instead of the group heads, professional managers such as Yoon Boo-keun, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics; Kwon Young-soo, Vice Chairman of LG; Hwang Gak-gyu, Vice Chairman of Lotte Holdings; Hyun Jeong-eun, Chairwoman of Hyundai Group; Gong Young-woon, President of Hyundai Motor Company; and Jang Dong-hyun, President of SK, will attend the event.

From the government side, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, and from the political sphere, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party; Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party; Son Hak-gyu, leader of the Bareunmirae Party, among approximately 1,300 attendees are expected, but actual attendance is anticipated to be lower than expected.

The business community interprets the low attendance rate of major group heads at the New Year's Greeting Meeting as related to President Moon's absence for three consecutive years. President Moon did not attend the Chamber of Commerce's New Year's Greeting Meeting in 2017 due to preparations for the Pyeongchang Olympics, and in 2018, citing fairness with other economic organizations. Last year and this year, he has attended government-hosted New Year's Greeting Meetings held around the same time instead of the Chamber's event.

The business community explains that the absence of the head of the executive branch at the New Year's Greeting Meeting, where economic policies and outlooks for the year are discussed, naturally diminishes its role. There are also criticisms regarding the lack of communication between the government and the business sector. This is because the grievances of businesspeople about various government regulations that hinder innovative growth are not being directly conveyed to the government.

A business community official said, "With the mass absence of the heads of the top 10 major groups at this year's New Year's Greeting Meeting, voices are emerging that it is effectively reduced to the level of a CEO breakfast meeting," adding, "The CEO breakfast meetings hosted monthly by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry gather about 300 businesspeople on average, which shows how the status of the New Year's Greeting Meeting is shrinking."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.