President Moon Jae-in answers to a question from one of reporters in his New Year’s News Conference at Cheong Wa Dae, which was televised live across the nation on Jan. 10. (Photo on the courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae website)

President Moon Jae-in said, “More efforts will be made toward economic innovation in the New Year with the goal of making shared growth leap forward.” President Moon also stressed co-prosperity based on a fair society.

“Malpractices in all areas of our daily lives will be corrected since shared growth leap forward cannot be achieved without fair society,” he said.

President Moon made the remarks at a joint New Year’s gathering held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building in downtown Seoul on Jan. 2.

“If the private sector’s efforts to resurrect economic dynamics are combined with the government’s support to nurture new industries and promote regulatory reform, I’m sure that the Korean economy will make another leap forward this year,” President Moon said.

In his New Year’s address on Jan. 7, President Moon vowed to push ahead with his reform drive and reinvigorate the national economy, while trying to improve relations with neighboring countries, including North Korea.

Among about 250 people on hand at the event were President Moon, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ui-sun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tai-won, and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, and business leaders, including KCCI Chairman Park Yong-maan, attend a New Year’s gathering for people in the business field, hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) at COEX in Seoul on Jan. 3. (Photo: KCCI)

KCCI Chairman Park Calls for Recovery of Private Sector’s Dynamics

Business leaders got together at a New Year’s gathering hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) at COEX in Seoul on Jan. 3 and pledged to overcome crises.

Roughly 1,300 people from political, government, business, labor and other walks of life participated in the event.
In his speech, KCCI Chairman Park Yong-maan said, “Despite difficult outside conditions, Korea managed to log $30,000 per capital growth national income and $1 trillion won in trade, and meaningful outcomes were reaped in growth and employment recovery.”

But with a drop in the private sector’s vitality, companies suffered big troubles and confrontations had become part of daily challenges. The nation fell short of fixing the structural problems of the Korean economy, he added.

KCCI Chairman Park selected the recovery of the private sector’s dynamics as a top priority for 2020. Many people predicted lower exports this year due to international conflicts. He said a recovery investment demand could be created on a voluntary basis through the institutional reform of the Korean economy, he noted.

Chairman Park said he was pleased that the 2020 economic policies, announced by the government last month, contained lots of structural reform tasks. He called for the government and parliament to enact laws designed to invigorate new industries.

Among the participants were Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun, Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young, and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo.

The attendees from the business sector included Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun, LG Corp. Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo, Lotte Corp. Vice Chairman Hwang Gak-kyu, Chairperson Hyun Jung-un of Hyundai Group, and Hyundai Motor President Kong Young-woon, and SK President Chang Dong-hyun.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-kio, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, MSS Minister Park Young-sun, Minister Choi Ki-young of the Ministry of Science and ICT, , and Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, and Chairman Kim Ki-moon of Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) participate in the 2020 New Year’s gathering for SME businessmen at the KBIZ headquarters in Youido, Seoul, on Jan. 6. (Photo: KBIZ)

SME Businessmen’s 2020 Catch Phrase ‘Catching in the Dark’

Chairman Kim Ki-moon of Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) said, “Our SMEs adopted this year’s buzzword “amjungmosaek,” a Chinese saying that means “catching in the dark,” and promising to make another leap forward by overcoming uncertain management conditions and shoring up fundamentals.

KBIZ Chairman Kim made the remarks at the 2020 New Year’s gathering for SME businessmen at the KBIZ headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on Jan. 6. Chairman Kim and other SME businessmen complained about economic hardships they experience and stressed a need for the parliament’s passing of laws to support SMEs.

About 700 people, including SME representatives of each industry and SME economic organizations and dignitaries from government, political and other circles participated in the meeting.

SME businessmen called for the parliamentary approval of pending bills related to SMEs before the closing of the 20th-term parliament so as to make “SMEs work hard like youth in their 20s.”

In his speech, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said, “SMEs will find a path while groping in the dark as the Chinese saying “Amjungmosaek” means.

The government will make efforts to fix an issue of export polarization among large-sized companies and easing restrictions while expediting SMEs’ technology innovation, Lee said.

KBIZ Vice Chairman Kwon Young-gil said many of his SME businessmen were considering the closure of business units due to the sagging economy and ever-worsening business conditions.

Prior to the gathering, Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) held a session to announce the ministry’s budget for this year and lend an ear to the voices of SME businessmen.

MSS Minister Park said even though the Korean economy was faced with lots of difficulties such as Japan’s export curbs on Korea, the nation managed to overcome them thanks to SME businessmen’ efforts.

Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik of the Korea Employers Federation said last year was a year in which large- and small-sized companies alike experienced hardships and he would tell the government to look at what companies want it to do.

Among the participants at the event were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, MSS Minister Park, Minister Choi Ki-young of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, and Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap.