"Economic Vice Premier and Leaders of Six Economic Organizations Join Hands for 'Bold Regulatory Reform' (Comprehensive)"

Economic Sector Regulatory Improvement Requests Delivered
Also Requests for Pardons of Lee Jae-yong and Shin Dong-bin
Yoon Administration's Successive Corporate Engagements

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] As the new government continues its swift steps toward regulatory reform, expectations in the business community are growing. Starting with President Yoon Seok-yeol and joined by ministers of economic departments, there is a clear intention to actively accept the opinions and proposals of the economic sector.

Following President Yoon’s bold promise to improve corporate regulations and major companies’ announcement of large-scale investment plans amounting to 1,000 trillion won, a new momentum for public-private cooperation appears to be opening up.

According to the industry on the 2nd, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho held a meeting with the heads of six economic organizations at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon. Attendees included Chey Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation; Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries; Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs; Choi Jin-sik, Chairman of the Korea Association of Mid-sized Enterprises; and Lee Kwan-seop, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association.

On this day, the business community delivered proposals to the new government. The proposals collected through each economic organization were consolidated by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In March, the Chamber had delivered “10,000 public opinions” received via a communication platform to the Presidential Transition Committee, and in April, ahead of the Korea-US summit, it also submitted “Suggestions for Korea-US Economic Cooperation Tasks” to the Transition Committee and related departments.

A Chamber official said, "Recently, with high inflation, high exchange rates, and global supply chain instability overlapping, the business environment is deteriorating," adding, "The proposals delivered to the new government so far include voices from companies regarding regulatory improvements and institutional support as a continuation." The opinions from the business community presented on this day are expected to be reflected in the government’s economic policy direction for the second half of the year, to be announced at the end of this month.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The business community also requested the government to grant pardons to business leaders. Before the meeting, Chairman Sohn responded to reporters’ question about whether there was an intention to request a pardon for Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong by saying, "We intend to make such a request." Regarding the possibility of requesting regulatory easing through presidential decrees, Chairman Sohn also said, "Of course, that is possible."

This month, companies are holding a series of management strategy meetings ahead of the second half of the year to reassess the business situation, including responses to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and supply chain instability. Despite domestic and international crises, companies have announced investment plans worth 1,000 trillion won over the next five years, focusing on fostering new growth engines.

The new government is responding to these corporate investments by pledging to remove regulations that have been holding back businesses. On the 30th, at a senior secretaries meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building, President Yoon emphasized, "Now is the time for the government to respond by removing regulations that block corporate investment," adding, "All ministries should recognize themselves as regulatory reform departments and boldly abolish regulations that hinder corporate and economic activities."

Following the new government’s policy direction of corporate and private-led economic growth, ministers are also expected to continue their outreach to the business community. On the 24th, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo instructed the formation of task forces (TFs) related to regulatory reform in 18 ministries at the Regulatory Innovation Ministerial Meeting, emphasizing, "National research institutes, business organizations, the government, and the Prime Minister’s Office must all take part."

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang has also been conducting a series of meetings with economic organizations as his first official activity after taking office. After meeting Chairman Chey Tae-won on the 18th, he held a meeting with Chairman Koo Ja-yeol of the Korea International Trade Association on the 27th. Minister Lee stated, "We plan to prepare support measures for corporate facility investment, including expanding various incentives, in cooperation with related ministries," and added, "As a policy partner, we will create corporate growth strategies together with the industrial sector."

With the momentum of public-private cooperation, it is expected that solutions to regulatory improvement tasks long demanded by the business community can be found. Various improvement tasks remain, including industrial safety represented by the Serious Accident Punishment Act, labor, environment, taxation, and fair trade.

An industry official said, "We strongly sympathize with the intention to actively resolve the difficulties faced by companies competing in the global market while carrying sandbags," adding, "We hope that strong determination for regulatory innovation will lead to practical and helpful alternatives."

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