Yoon and Lee Jae-yong's 'Tteokbokki Mukbang' May Not Happen... Reform New Party Pushes 'Economic Figures Draft Prevention Act'

Restrictions on Indiscriminate Summoning of Business Group Heads

The Reform New Party, led by former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok, is preparing to introduce a so-called "Economic Leaders Draft Prevention Act" (tentative name) that restricts the indiscriminate summoning or accompaniment of business leaders in the political sphere. The Reform New Party plans to unveil this policy pledge, which includes limiting the drafting of economic figures for political events, as its fifth party platform as early as this week.

This policy aims to set criteria for when business leaders can accompany major political events to prevent their indiscriminate mobilization. For example, it seeks to prevent business leaders from attending events simply to garner public favor or for unclear purposes, except in essential situations such as serving as economic envoys during the president’s overseas visits to promote market entry or attending economic sector meetings.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This comes in response to public criticism following an event last December when President Yoon Suk-yeol visited a snack bar in Busan’s international market with the heads of five major conglomerates and second- and third-generation chaebols, conducting a so-called "tteokbokki mukbang." The event included government ministers, ruling party leaders and lawmakers, as well as Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, SK Vice Chairman Choi Jae-won, Poongsan Group Chairman Ryu Jin, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, HD Hyundai Vice Chairman Jung Ki-sun, Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae. Although the presidential office explained the event was intended to communicate with citizens and encourage merchants, some in political and economic circles criticized it as a political event where business leaders were drafted as mere props to soothe public disappointment after the failure to secure the Busan Expo.

Frequent accompaniment of business leaders by politicians has also raised concerns about potential management gaps and the risk of collusion between politics and business. It is argued that the absence of key decision-makers during organizational restructuring and strategic management could delay decision-making. President Yoon held ten joint events with business leaders last year alone. Among them, SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won, who also serves as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attended eight times. At a year-end press conference, Chairman Choi expressed his candid opinion on the frequent accompaniment of business leaders by politicians, stating, "I don’t think it’s a big problem if someone else from the company attends events that the chairman doesn’t necessarily have to go to."

The Reform New Party also plans to pursue related legislation. A party official stated, "We will sequentially disclose a total of ten major policies, including a party platform that prevents the indiscriminate drafting of economic figures."