The Launch of the 'Jeonmun Jageoksa Danche Hyeobuihoe'... Won Kyung-hee, President of the Tax Accountants Association, Appointed as the First Chairman

Wongeonghee, President of the Korea Tax Association (third from the left at the bottom), Kimsungu, President of the Korea Association of Real Estate Appraisers, Park Chang-eon, President of the Korea Customs Association, Park Young-gi, President of the Korea Certified Labor Consultants Association, Hong Jang-won, President of the Korean Patent Attorneys Association, and Park Yong-hyun, President of the Korea Association of Certified Realtors, are taking a commemorative photo after the launch ceremony of the "Council of Professional Qualification Associations."

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Six professional qualification organizations, including the Korea Association of Tax Accountants, the Korea Association of Real Estate Appraisers, the Korea Customs Brokers Association, the Korea Certified Labor Consultants Association, the Korean Patent Attorneys Association, and the Korea Association of Certified Realtors, have launched the Council of Professional Qualification Organizations to block lawyers and others from entering their fields.

The Council of Professional Qualification Organizations held its inauguration ceremony on the 5th and announced on the 6th that Won Kyung-hee, president of the Korea Association of Tax Accountants, was unanimously elected as the first president. Hong Jang-won, president of the Korean Patent Attorneys Association, will serve as secretary general.

The Council of Professional Qualification Organizations will hold regular meetings every three months to enhance the social role of professional qualification holders, share current issues, and work to solve problems to contribute to increasing public convenience. The president’s term is set at one year with the possibility of reappointment, and operational plans will be included in the bylaws for deliberation and resolution at the next meeting.

On the same day, the Council of Professional Qualification Organizations issued a joint statement expressing strong support for the joint statement released on the 2nd by the Korea Association of Tax Accountants, the Korea Certified Labor Consultants Association, and the Korean Patent Attorneys Association condemning the Korean Bar Association’s attempt to amend the Attorney-at-Law Act.

The Council criticized the Korean Bar Association, stating, "Allowing lawyers to perform all specialized tasks without verification such as examinations is an unreasonable behavior that only considers lawyers’ vested interests."

President Won pointed out, "If lawyers without expertise in other fields indiscriminately perform the work of other professional qualification holders, unnecessary excessive competition will be triggered, leading to rampant illegal and improper practices." He further criticized, "It is unfair to distort and obstruct the amendment of the Tax Accountants Act to perform tax and accounting work, which are the exclusive fields of tax accountants and accountants and have nothing to do with legal affairs."

The Council of Professional Qualification Organizations also issued a solidarity statement urging the abolition of the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Administrative Agents Act, which the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced for legislative notice on the 14th of last month.

The Council stated, "By making the scope of work of administrative agents, who are automatically qualified upon retirement from public service, ambiguous, it undermines the legislative intent of the professional qualification system and promotes preferential treatment for retired public officials," and called for the complete abolition of the relevant amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Administrative Agents Act.