[Inside Chodong] FKI’s Fresh Start: HanKyungHyup and the Era of “Ryu Jin’s” Leadership

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) has completed the basic setup to make a fresh start as the Korea Economic Federation (HanKyungHyup), which combines the FKI and the Korea Economic Research Institute, by appointing Ryu Jin, chairman of Poongsan, as the new chairman on the 22nd. The four major groups?Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG?that had withdrawn from the FKI amid the political scandal are also scheduled to hold an extraordinary board meeting before the 22nd to decide whether to rejoin HanKyungHyup. Once the new chairman is appointed, the FKI and Korea Economic Research Institute are merged and absorbed, and the four major groups rejoin, the six-month transitional period under acting chairman Kim Byung-joon’s leadership can be regarded as a meaningful preparation for a new start.

The focus of attention now shifts to HanKyungHyup under Chairman Ryu’s leadership after the 22nd of this month. HanKyungHyup was the name of the organization used when the FKI was first established in 1961. Instead of the commonly used term ‘businesspeople,’ the term ‘economic people’ (Gyeongjein), which combines ‘economy’ meaning to govern the nation and benefit the people, was used. This reflects the early leadership’s (first chairman Lee Byung-chul) intention to create a group of people who would ‘govern the country rightly and save the people.’

For now, HanKyungHyup’s determination for a fresh start is solemn. Aiming to become a ‘think tank-type economic organization’ not yet present in Korea, HanKyungHyup plans to significantly strengthen its think tank functions that establish the country’s vision and mid- to long-term strategies, as well as economic and industrial policies. For example, it aims to play a role similar to the Heritage Foundation, a representative think tank-type economic organization in the United States. The Heritage Foundation employs a strategy of recruiting foreign policy officials as senior research staff to secure influence over the government. In 2007, when Michael Mukasey, then a nominee for U.S. Attorney General under the George W. Bush administration, faced difficulties in Senate confirmation, the president personally visited the Heritage Foundation to seek support, demonstrating the foundation’s significant influence. Mukasey was eventually confirmed as Attorney General.

From this perspective, Chairman Ryu leading HanKyungHyup alongside a full-time vice chairman with a bureaucratic background can create synergy. In the past, it would have been criticized if a person unable to represent businesspeople’s voices took the position of full-time vice chairman at the FKI. However, from HanKyungHyup’s standpoint, which aims to be a think tank-type economic organization, the situation is different. Whether a bureaucrat or a businessperson, it is necessary to have someone who can work well with Chairman Ryu to build the organization.

In any society, the government and businesses must collaborate and support each other. This means they can create synergy through close relationships, not that government and business collude to commit corruption. When the Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree incident threatened national interests, companies readily offered help wherever they could. The government should listen carefully to the voices of economic actors to eliminate and improve unnecessary regulations that hinder business activities. Beyond small gestures like supporting the Jamboree, there are many tasks ahead for the government and the business community to work together, including export promotion, investment activation, and job creation.

The new HanKyungHyup must establish a promised Ethics Management Committee to gain the trust of companies and properly set up governance to prevent collusion between politics and business. Organizing the members for this committee itself could be a challenging task. Moreover, to properly fulfill its think tank role, it must proactively perform functions that develop global-level policies and propose alternatives. All these responsibilities rest on Chairman Ryu’s shoulders. The directions proposed by the newly starting HanKyungHyup are quite agreeable. Now is the time to put the new plans presented earlier into action. We hope that Ryu Jin’s HanKyungHyup will not be a ‘New’ without the ‘New.’

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