[Reporter’s Notebook] Mixed Reactions to the Blue House's 'Communication with Business Leaders'

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The late former President Roh Moo-hyun gave a special lecture to about 350 businesspeople at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2006. He said, "I feel there are many problems with communication," and promised to solve issues through communication. At that time, although former President Roh had implemented several market-friendly policies such as taking the first steps toward a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, he was criticized from both progressive and conservative camps due to the image that he was based on anti-business and anti-market principles.

There was a view that he might have belatedly recognized economic mismanagement and started paying attention to the business community, but many applauded his communication efforts. A few days after the special lecture, former President Roh invited the spouses of five heads of economic organizations to the Blue House for a meal together.

Former President Lee Myung-bak distributed a hotline 'MB phone' saying he would contact businesspeople directly. However, since he had frequent skinship with the economic community, it was said that there was no real need to use it. Former President Park Geun-hye also maintained close contact with businesspeople, but in a different sense, and the aftermath of that was miserable.

President Moon Jae-in feeling the need for smooth communication with businesspeople to boost economic vitality is not a recent development, but the impression that this is regarded coldly seems partly due to the legacy left by previous presidents. Since this is not the early days of the presidency where every move is given special meaning, it is believed that several times more effort than the distancing from businesspeople shown over the past four years will be needed to dispel the impression of 'business passing.'

The setup is ready. The Blue House Chief of Policy, who has a strong personal color, has left, and a bureaucrat with expertise in handling policies has taken over. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has emerged as the representative economic organization, has appointed the head of a top 4 conglomerate as its chairman for the first time. This is the background drawing attention to the meeting between Lee Ho-seung, Blue House Chief of Policy, and Chey Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, scheduled for the 7th.

If it gives the impression that the meeting was forced to make up for low approval ratings, the outcome will be worse than not holding it at all. Many businesspeople around the sources interviewed are not pessimists simply because they expect 'Will it be different this time?' but rather because they foresee 'It won't be easy this time either.' As the Blue House is desperate, businesspeople are equally desperate.

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