Is Hankyunghyeop Regaining Its Status as the 'Eldest Brother' of the Business World... POSCO and Others Join

The 63rd Regular General Meeting and Board Meeting Held
More Than 10 Companies Expected to Join Newly

POSCO Holdings, Amorepacific, KG Mobility, EcoPro, and Maeil Dairies are joining the Korea Economic Association (KEA). With major companies such as POSCO, ranked 5th in the business world, joining KEA alongside Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG, which rejoined last year, the business community is paying close attention to whether KEA will once again become the leading economic organization.

According to the business community on the 16th, POSCO Holdings and others have submitted membership applications to KEA. KEA is scheduled to hold its 63rd regular general meeting and board meeting on the morning of the same day to approve the agenda items, including the admission of new member companies. The general meeting is expected to be attended by KEA Chairman Ryu Jin, along with corporate heads and executives from the chairman group.

The new member companies will be announced after board approval, and more than 10 companies are expected to join according to business circles. However, major information technology (IT) and entertainment companies such as Naver, Kakao, and HYBE reportedly did not submit membership applications. These companies were ones KEA had actively courted, even sending official membership request letters. Currently, KEA has about 420 member companies and plans to actively recruit additional new members going forward.

On the 21st, the Federation of Korean Industries building in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The Federation plans to address the agenda of changing its institution name to Hankyunghyeop at the extraordinary general meeting on the 22nd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

KEA suffered setbacks during the 'Mir and K-Sports Foundation scandal,' with the withdrawal of the four major groups and POSCO, and faced the humiliation of being 'passed over' during the Moon Jae-in administration. Even immediately after the 20th presidential regime change, KEA failed to regain its 'leading elder brother' status from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. At the 62nd general meeting held in February last year, KEA failed to appoint a chairman and instead appointed Kim Byung-joon, chairman of the Community Chest of Korea (Sarangui Yeolmae), as a 'six-month acting chairman.' The turnaround began after Kim's appointment. KEA led the formation of the economic delegation accompanying President Yoon Suk-yeol on his visits to Japan and the United States.

In March last year, KEA announced the establishment of a future partnership fund with Japan's Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), and in July, both sides contributed 1 billion KRW and 100 million JPY (approximately 1 billion KRW) respectively to jointly manage the fund. Following the establishment of the joint fund, the two organizations maintained communication and successfully resumed the 30th Korea-Japan Business Meeting in Tokyo last month after a year and a half hiatus. In May last year, KEA unveiled an organizational reform plan and changed its institutional name from the Federation of Korean Industries to the Korea Economic Association after 55 years.

Evaluations that KEA began to regain its leading elder brother status started emerging from August last year. The conditional approval of affiliate membership by Samsung's Compliance Committee made the rejoining of the four major groups visible, and subsequently, movements to recruit new companies became active. In October of the same year, KEA launched an Ethics Committee, expressing its commitment to reform following the 'state manipulation' scandal, driving organizational innovation. Over the year following Kim's appointment as acting chairman, KEA expanded its influence and actively worked to reclaim its status as the leading organization in the business community.

The business community expects KEA to support the drafting and implementation of laws and policies directly related to management rights, such as the Fair Trade Act, tax laws, and commercial laws. Kim Kyung-jun, CEO of CEO Score, said, "Since labor issues are prominently handled by the Korea Employers Federation (KEF) and small business matters by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, KEA needs to actively engage in supporting various laws and policies related to owner (chairman) management rights." He added, "Many companies especially expect KEA to play a proactive and definitive role during the inheritance tax reform process."