Samsung and LG Pay Hankyung Business Association Fees... All Four Major Groups Contribute

Samsung Electronics Board Meeting on 31st
Likely to Approve Korea Economic Association Membership Fee Payment
LG Paid Last Week
Hyundai Motor and SK Also... Four Major Groups Effectively Returning

Samsung and LG Group are paying membership fees to the Korea Economic Association (HanKyungHyup) and returning to member company activities. With this, including Hyundai Motor and SK Group, which had previously paid their fees, all four major domestic groups have returned as members of HanKyungHyup.

Korea Economic Association [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the business community on the 31st, Samsung Electronics is scheduled to hold a board meeting on the day to approve the agenda for paying the HanKyungHyup membership fee. Samsung has four key affiliates participating in HanKyungHyup: Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. Other affiliates besides Samsung Electronics are also expected to pay membership fees.

Earlier in August, the Samsung Compliance Committee (hereafter Compliance Committee) effectively approved the payment of HanKyungHyup membership fees by Samsung affiliates, stating that "it was decided to allow the affiliates to make autonomous decisions."

LG Group paid its membership fees earlier last week. Five companies participated, including the holding company LG Corporation, LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Innotek, and LG Uplus.

HanKyungHyup sent official letters requesting membership fee payments to about 420 member companies, including the four major groups?Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG?between late March and early April. The annual membership fee requested from each of the four major groups was 3.5 billion KRW. Last year, the Korea Economic Research Institute (HanKyungYeon), which had the four major groups as members, was absorbed and integrated into HanKyungHyup, so the four major groups formally rejoined HanKyungHyup but had been deliberating over the payment of fees. Then, Hyundai Motor was the first among the four major groups to pay the membership fee in early July, and SK Group completed its annual fee payment in August.