President Lee Meets Business Leaders to Discuss Youth Employment and Regional Investment

Attendance by Leaders Including Lee Jae-yong and Chung Euisun
Win-Win Initiatives Between Conglomerates and Startups Included
Expansion of Korea-China Cooperation Also a Key Agenda Item

On February 4, President Lee Jaemyung is meeting with the heads of 10 major conglomerates at the Blue House to discuss "Youth Employment and Expansion of Regional Investment." This is the first time this year that President Lee has arranged a meeting with the leaders of major conglomerates. In addition to measures such as expanding youth recruitment, increasing investment outside the Seoul metropolitan area, and promoting win-win cooperation between large corporations and startups, plans to expand Korea-China economic cooperation on the back of the restoration of Korea-China relations are also expected to be addressed as a key agenda item.

Yonhap News Agency

Attending the meeting presided over by President Lee will be Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Supex Council Chairman (Vice Chairman) Choi Chang-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, POSCO Group Chairman Jang In-hwa, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun, GS Chairman Huh Tae-soo, and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae. Also joining will be business association leaders such as Korea Enterprises Federation Chairman Yoo Jin and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Vice Chairman Park Il-joon, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan.

At this meeting, the companies plan to brief President Lee and the government on their new hiring plans and regional investment plans for this year. In particular, the agenda is expected to include balanced-development tasks such as regional hub investments aimed at easing concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area, expansion of factories and research facilities in provincial regions, and joint relocation with partner companies.

The interface between large corporations and the startup ecosystem is also expected to be a major agenda item. The government is devising models such as expanding open innovation by large corporations, linking them with regional startup hubs, and supporting joint projects and market access for large corporations and startups. The government’s goal is to draw out a greater role from the private sector so that the startup boom can continue, and to create an environment in which young people can not only seek their "first job" but also take on the challenge of their "first startup."

President Lee has repeatedly expressed his determination to make this year the starting point of a "Great Transformation of the Republic of Korea" and to tackle tasks such as resolving polarization entrenched in "K-shaped growth," as well as youth employment and balanced development. On January 28, he invited foreign-invested companies to the Blue House and called on them to expand youth employment and actively invest in regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area. A Blue House official explained, "The government will introduce policies such as the startup boom, and the business community will discuss ways to help boost youth employment and revitalize regional economies."

Measures to expand economic cooperation to further flesh out the achievements of President Lee’s visit to China, which fully restored Korea-China relations, are also expected to be discussed. In January, Chairman Lee and Chairman Chung attended the Korea-China Business Forum, held at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing for the first time in nine years, on the occasion of President Lee’s state visit to China, and held separate meetings with Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Chinese battery company CATL, Xu Ziyang, chairman of telecommunications equipment company ZTE, and Zhang Zhengping, chairman of electric-vehicle company SERES Group. At that meeting, President Lee stressed the need for innovation and cooperation in the manufacturing sector and for active exchanges in cultural content, saying, "Korea and China are in the same position as ships sailing together in the same direction on the same sea."