Economic Leaders Gather in One Place for New Year's Meeting... Pledge for 'Economic Revitalization' (Comprehensive)

(From the front row, left to right) Jo Bae-sook, Floor Leader of the Party for Democracy and Peace; Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT; Kim Young-joo, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association; Sohn Hak-kyu, Leader of the Bareunmirae Party; Lee Hae-chan, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea; Lee Nak-yeon, Prime Minister; Park Yong-man, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance; Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] At the largest New Year's event in the business world, the 'New Year's Gathering,' key figures from politics and business gathered in one place to pledge the revitalization of the economy in the new year.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry held the '2020 Business World New Year's Gathering' on the afternoon of the 3rd at the COEX Grand Ballroom in Samseong-dong, Seoul, with about 1,300 attendees from the business sector, politics, government, and labor.

Before the start of the New Year's Gathering, Hyun Jeong-eun, Chairwoman of Hyundai Group, and Koo Ja-eun, Chairman of LS Mtron, appeared 30 minutes early. Park Geun-hee, Vice Chairman of CJ, told reporters asking about the Korean economic situation this year before attending, "Do you think it will be good? It is the bottom."

Son Kyung-sik, Chairman of CJ Group, assessed the Korean economy this year, saying, "If the trade issues between the U.S. and China are resolved, things will go well." He added, "The economy always has difficult times and good times," and urged, "Let's not be disappointed and work hard to create bright smiles."

Following them, Jang Dong-hyun, CEO of SK, Hwang Gak-gyu, Vice Chairman of Lotte, and Kwon Young-soo, CEO of LG, attended in succession. Vice Chairman Hwang said, "I expect the government to help a lot so that our economy can do well this year." CEO Kwon of LG emphasized, "The keyword this year is fairness."

Attendance from political and government figures continued. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Hong Nam-ki responded to reporters' questions about the lack of messages on deregulation at the government-hosted New Year's Gathering the day before, which disappointed businesspeople, by saying, "We will form a regulatory task force (TF) to ease regulations in ten major industrial sectors."

Key political figures such as Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party, Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the Bareunmirae Party, and Cho Bae-sook, floor leader of the Party for Democracy and Peace, also attended. From the labor sector, Kim Joo-young, Chairman of the Korean Federation of Trade Unions, and foreign envoys in Korea including Harry Harris, U.S. Ambassador to Korea; Philippe Lefort, French Ambassador to Korea; Stefan Auer, German Ambassador to Korea; and Umar Hadi, Indonesian Ambassador to Korea, were present.

Park Yong-man, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who hosted the event, emphasized at the New Year's Gathering, "It depends on fundamentally changing the Korean economic system to create voluntary investment demand from companies," adding, "Changing laws and systems to open new opportunities is the most important task."

However, the heads of the four major groups?Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG?as well as President Moon Jae-in, did not attend the event. President Moon had expressed his intention the day before to communicate with the business community and boost economic vitality.

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