Bullet maker Poongsan chief Ryu’s new role: Korea’s top business lobbyist

 

Jin Roy Ryu, chairman of South Korea’s leading copper smelter and defense equipment maker Poongsan Corp., has been chosen to lead the country’s top business lobby group, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

The Poongsan chairman, whose Korean name is Ryu Jin, will be tasked with drastically reforming the FKI, long plagued by scandals and indecent collusion with politicians.

The FKI said on Monday it will hold an ad-hoc general meeting on Aug. 22 to officially appoint Ryu, 65, as its new chairman.

As part of the rigorous restructuring, the business lobby group will also rebrand as the tentatively named Korea Businesspeople Association after merging with an affiliated research firm, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), to transform into a think tank while representing the interest of Korea’s leading businesses.

“With his outstanding experience, knowledge and vast human network on the global stage, Ryu is the right person to transform our organization into a global think tank and an economic entity,” the FKI said.

Better known as an ammunition manufacturer in overseas markets, Poongsan has kept a low profile in Korea because of its identity as a defense company.

A non-ferrous metal smelter, Poosang produces various types of ammunition and artillery shells.

HIGH-PROFILE FIGURE IN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Its leader Ryu, however, has been a high-profile figure in the international community.

He graduated from an international high school in Japan, majored in English language and literature at Seoul National University and studied business administration at Dartmouth College in the US.

He joined Poongsan Corp.’s former entity, Poongsan Metal, in 1982 and was promoted as Poongsan’s chief executive in 1997 before becoming its chairman in 2000.

In Korea’s business circle, Ryu currently serves as the FKI’s Korean side chairman of the Korea-US Business Council and the Korean lobby group’s vice chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association.

Ryu is also active among Washington, D.C.'s think tanks. He has been serving as a trustee for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) since 2020.

Last year, he was globally recognized by winning the prestigious James A. Van Fleet Award granted by the Korea Society, a nonprofit organization promoting Korea-US relations.

He was part of the economic delegation of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the US in April.

RYU’S TOP PRIORITY

The new FKI chairman’s top priority will be to reform the business association.

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, including Korea’s big four conglomerates – Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG – have left the group.

One of Ryu’s top priorities will be to bring the four largest conglomerates back into the fold, analysts said. Currently, about 400 Korean companies are members of the group.

In January, the FKI chief and GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo resigned from the lobby group’s chairmanship after serving for more than a decade since 2011. He called on its members to work hard to restore the FKI’s previous fame.

The FKI said in February it aims to become a more open and future-oriented business group that can help Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy, join the Group of Eight (G8) club.

It hired Kim Byong-joon, a former high-profile ruling party member, as the acting chairman in February. From next month, he will take on a permanent advisory role.

The new Chairman Ryu is said to be striving to recruit a former high-ranking Foreign Ministry official as the group’s full-time vice chairman.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim and Hyung-Kyu Kim at hu@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.