The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as the KCCI) expressed its deep apology for having sparked controversy over "fake news" with its press release on the "overseas outflow of high-net-worth individuals from Korea," and announced that it would immediately prepare and implement measures to prevent a recurrence.
On the 9th, the KCCI said, "We take this matter very seriously and plan to significantly strengthen our internal verification system across the entire process of drafting and distributing materials that are released externally, so that similar cases will never recur in the future," adding, "Based on our sense of responsibility as a statutory economic organization, we will prepare materials and immediately implement, starting this week, measures that can fully verify the accuracy of facts and statistics."
Park Iljun, Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, bows his head in apology at an emergency meeting of business groups to review urgent economic issues held at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 9th. Yonhap News
The KCCI first decided to embark on a comprehensive overhaul of its internal system. To verify the reliability of statistics and enhance analytical capabilities, it plans to provide relevant training to all employees, starting immediately with education programs for staff in charge of surveys and research.
In addition, in order to mandate multi-layered verification of facts and statistics, the KCCI decided, effective today, to designate an executive with statistical analysis capabilities, Park Yangsoo, Head of the KCCI SGI, as the executive in charge of fact-checking. Park Yangsoo previously worked at the Bank of Korea, received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois in the United States, and served as Director General of the Economic Statistics Department and as Director of the Economic Research Institute at the Bank of Korea. He has been serving as Head of the KCCI SGI since 2023.
To ensure thorough verification of materials released and clear communication, the KCCI also decided to introduce a verification system under which independent external experts will be engaged to conduct an additional round of checks.
Earlier, on the 3rd, the KCCI claimed in a press release titled "Analysis of Inheritance Tax Revenue Outlook and Study on Diversifying Payment Methods" that the number of high-net-worth individuals who left Korea last year due to inheritance tax burdens had surged to 2,400. However, criticism arose that the criteria and methodology of the survey conducted by Henley & Partners, a British immigration consulting firm cited as the basis, were inadequate and therefore difficult to trust.
KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won, who was on a business trip to the United States, was briefed on the matter and strongly rebuked the KCCI Secretariat, saying, "As a responsible institution, the KCCI should have scrutinized the data more carefully. Please make every effort to ensure that such an incident never happens again." The KCCI plans, separately from the audit by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, to identify where responsibility lies through its own investigation and hold those responsible duly accountable.
The KCCI pledged that, by strengthening its internal verification system through these measures, it will enhance the reliability of materials released externally, provide accurate and transparent information to the public, and do its utmost to ensure that companies can develop together with the nation and its people.
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