"343 Corporate Regulations and 6,000 Economic Criminal Provisions in Korea"...Choi Tae Won Calls for Paradigm Shift

Joint Launch of the "Corporate Growth Forum" by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Federation of Korean Industries, and Korea Federation of SMEs
Pushing for Institutional Reform to Incentivize Growth
Incentives for Growing Companies to Encourage Expansion
Large Corporations' Sales Growth Down to a Quarter Over the Past Decade

Leading economic organizations in South Korea, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have joined forces to break down regulatory barriers. These organizations jointly launched the "Corporate Growth Forum," emphasizing the need to reform the system so that growing companies receive incentives and appropriate rewards.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries, and the Korea Federation of SMEs held the launch ceremony for the Corporate Growth Forum at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on September 4. Their plan is to dismantle regulatory barriers that are difficult to overcome individually and to push for institutional reforms that ensure rewards are given to growing companies.

Choi Tae Won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is making remarks related to corporate regulations during the keynote speech at the launch ceremony of the Corporate Growth Forum held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on September 4, 2025. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Choi Tae Won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of SK Group, stated in his keynote speech, "The larger a company becomes, the more regulations it faces, so companies lose the motivation to grow." He added, "This is the fundamental reason for Korea's stagnant growth and the decline in private sector vitality." He continued, "Only 4 out of 10,000 small businesses become mid-sized companies, and only 1 to 2 out of 100 mid-sized companies become large corporations. This is a classic example of regressive incentives," stressing, "We must change the structure that discourages companies from growing."

Chairman Choi also drew attention by publicly displaying a large panel listing 343 domestic corporate regulations in front of the audience. He criticized, "It is contradictory that entering a large business group automatically increases regulations." According to research by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Professor Kim Youngju's team at Pusan National University, there are 343 differentiated regulations for companies in just 12 economic laws. When a small company becomes a mid-sized company, 94 additional regulations are imposed, and this number surges to 329 for large corporations. There are reportedly over 6,000 economic criminal provisions.

He said, "The stagnation of economic growth is rooted in the imbalance between regulations and support," adding, "As the structure of protecting small businesses while increasing regulations on large corporations continues, private sector vitality has rapidly declined." The average annual sales growth rate of large companies over the past decade has plummeted to 2.6%, compared to over 10% twenty to thirty years ago. For small businesses, the rate has dropped from 8-9% to 5.4%. Chairman Choi warned, "If this situation continues, we may face a scenario where all companies revert to being small businesses," and emphasized, "We need a system that supports growing companies and leaves only essential regulations after a thorough review."

The business community's decision to work together on regulatory reform stems from the reality that stepwise regulations and excessive economic criminal provisions are cited as the main causes for the slowdown in corporate growth over the past decade. As the regressive structure-where benefits decrease and regulations increase as companies grow-has become entrenched, the business sector believes improvement is necessary. These organizations stressed the need to create an ecosystem where growing companies are granted regulatory exemptions and performance-based support so that companies are encouraged to take on challenges.

As solutions, the business community proposed: introducing regulatory impact assessments on industries; amending enforcement decrees and rules; applying exceptions for high-tech industries; and operating experimental systems such as a "mega sandbox." There were also calls to establish "growth-oriented policies" throughout society by providing rewards to growing companies. In fact, analysis shows that if 100 highly profitable small businesses listed on the stock market are scaled up to the level of mid-sized companies, an additional 5 trillion won in operating profit could be generated, raising gross domestic product (GDP) by about 0.2%.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoonchul, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chey Tae-won, heads of major banks, and other attendees are posing for a commemorative photo at the launch ceremony of the Corporate Growth Forum held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on September 4, 2025. Photo by Jo Yongjun

At the launch ceremony, more than 30 figures from the private sector, government, politics, and academia attended, including Chairman Choi; Kim Changbeom, Executive Vice Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries; Lee Hojun, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoonchul; Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon; First Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sinhak; Jin Okdong, Chairman of Shinhan Financial Group; Yang Jonghee, Chairman of KB Financial Group; Ham Youngjoo, Chairman of Hana Financial Group; Lim Jongryong, Chairman of Woori Financial Group; Park Seunghee, President of Samsung Electronics; Lee Hyunghee, Chair of the SK Communications Committee; Kim Dongwook, Vice President of Hyundai Motor Company; and Park Junseong, Vice President of LG.

Deputy Prime Minister Koo stated, "Recently, as our economy's transition to a leading economy has been delayed, the potential growth rate has dropped significantly," adding, "We will operate a task force to rationalize economic criminal provisions and revise 30% of these regulations by the end of the year."

Song Seungheon, Managing Partner of McKinsey Korea Office, said in his keynote speech, "A structure with small upsides and large downsides suppresses entrepreneurship. There are limits to government support alone, so the market must provide safety nets and rewards." He identified special-purpose semiconductors and generative, agent, and physical artificial intelligence (AI) as new growth opportunities, predicting, "If Korea leverages its manufacturing experience and data capabilities, there is ample potential to accelerate growth again."

Going forward, the Corporate Growth Forum plans to hold regular forums one to two times per quarter and to investigate and research the impact of differentiated regulations by company size on corporate growth and the overall economy, in order to develop policy alternatives.