FKI to be more open, future-minded and international as part of reform

South Korea’s major business lobby group the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) will become a more open and future-oriented business group that can help Asia’s fourth largest economy join the Group of Eight (G8) club, the group announced as part of its reform plan on Tuesday.

“FKI will strive to engage more deeply with the public and start anew as a pioneer in designing the future of Korea and contribute to the country’s another leap to become a G8 member,” the business organization announced in a statement on Tuesday.

This is part of the business association’s reform plan, dubbed as New Way Initiative, that has been prepared by a special committee dedicated to the reorganization of the country’s major business lobby group to restore its prestige.

The committee under the direction of Lee Woong-yeul, FKI vice chairman who is also honorary chairman of Kolon Group, is expected to announce detailed reform measures at a general meeting on Feb. 23.

Founded in 1961, the FKI has served as a leading and respected business lobby group representing Korea’s major conglomerates.

But its reputation was tainted by a series of scandals including the corruption scandal during the ousted President Park Geun-hye’s administration in 2016. Since then, many member companies have left the group.

In January, its Chairman Huh Chang-soo offered his resignation after serving for more than a decade since 2011. He has been asking its members to work hard to restore the business lobby group’s fame as a respected leading business association.

As part of efforts to engage more with the public and younger generation, the committee is seeking to organize a charity lunch with business leaders, which is similar to a private lunch with billionaire businessman Warren Buffett.

But the Korean version will not be auctioned. Instead, anyone who wants to participate the event should submit their plans of how to contribute their talent to the society and will be picked by the committee after review. Three leaders, including a chairperson of a large conglomerate, a chief executive officer and a startup founder, will dine with 30 people.

The committee also will come up with various measures to support small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Write to Jae-fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.