Kim Young-sik, New Chairman of the Accounting Society, "Will Achieve Win-Win for Clients, Members, and Regulatory Authorities" (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporters Jihwan Park and Minji Lee] Kim Young-sik, Chairman of Samil Accounting Corporation, has been elected as the 45th President of the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA).

Newly appointed President Kim Young-sik met with reporters immediately after being elected at the KICPA General Assembly held on the 17th at the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, emphasizing the need for coexistence among clients, members, and regulatory authorities in accounting reform.

President Kim stressed practical actions for 'coexistence' above all else. He promised, "First, I will persuade our clients," adding, "I will fully explain the necessity of accounting to our clients." He revealed his intention to immediately seek ways to coexist with clients by mentioning a scheduled meeting tomorrow afternoon with the chairpersons of the Listed Companies Council and the Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises.

Kim also diagnosed that the accounting industry should unite and cooperate rather than quarrel. He pointed out, "The existing accounting industry has fought too much over a small pie," criticizing, "They did not think about expanding the pie and fought over the small existing pie." He added, "While protecting the existing pie is important, I will expand this pie to enlarge the domain of accountants." He also mentioned that if there is an imbalance in the pie among current members, efforts to balance it will be carried out simultaneously.

The new president announced plans to elevate the Women's Committee and Youth Committee within KICPA. He said, "Special consideration must be given to KICPA members, most of whom are youth and women," and added, "I will present new role models for the youth, who are the future owners."

Regarding the so-called Big 4 and other large accounting firms, he emphasized that unconditional concessions should be demanded. He explained that he intends to build an ecosystem where work flows to small and medium-sized firms and individual auditors by obtaining concessions from large and medium-sized accounting firms.

He also stated, "The Big 4's know-how lies in possessing tools that enable efficient audits, and currently, audits using robotics are well underway," emphasizing, "If there are good tools in the industry, after verification, they will be made available for common use."

Finally, Kim stressed coexistence with regulatory authorities. He said, "One pillar of the new External Audit Act was the carrot of periodic designation and standard audit hours, but the other pillar was the stick of quality control," urging, "The accounting industry must make infinite efforts to avoid being whipped." To this end, he explained, "Rather than a uniform quality control system, I will propose quality control systems tailored to each scale through consultation with regulatory authorities."

Regarding the issue of external audits for non-profit organizations, which recently surfaced in the Justice Memory Solidarity incident, he said he is considering specializing this for small and medium-sized firms to provide them with new work opportunities.

The recent KICPA presidential election saw a record five candidates, including former lawmaker Chae E-bae of the Minsheng Party, Jeong Min-geun, Vice Chairman of Anjin Accounting Corporation, Choi Jong-man, CEO of Shinhan Accounting Corporation, and Professor Hwang In-tae of Chung-Ang University.

New President Kim received 39.9% (4,638 votes) of the support from 11,624 participating accountants. His competitor, former Minsheng Party lawmaker Chae E-bae, recorded 32.5% (3,800 votes). The new president’s term is two years starting from this day. For vice president and auditor, Na Cheol-ho, KICPA auditor, and Jeong Chang-mo, partner at Samduck Accounting Corporation, were elected unopposed, and their terms are also two years.

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