FKI Taking Part in Organization of Economic Mission to U.S.

It has been found that the Federation of Korea Industries (FKI) is indirectly participating in the organization of the economic mission of President Moon Jae-in to visit the United States. This was unexpected in that the FKI was expected to be ruled out of the Moon Jae-in government’s external economic activities due to its involvement in the Choi Soon-sil scandal.

“We are currently working on a list of 10 large corporations to participate in the President’s economic mission to visit the United States late this month at the request of the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI),” the FKI said on June 12.

The participation of the FKI is because of its wide network in the business community of the United States. Members of the federation, most of which are large companies, have maintained a very close relationship with the community for long and the federation has hosted business conferences for years with the American Chamber of Commerce, the Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry and so on. In addition, it was in charge of the organization of economic missions before multiple former South Korean Presidents’ visits to the U.S., Japan, Britain, France, etc.

The FKI sent its own economic mission to the U.S. last month, too. Members of this mission led by Korean Air senior managing director Cho Hyun-min included Hyundai Motor Company, POSCO, Lotte Chemical, Hyosung and Samyang. The FKI is also participating in multilateral meetings such as the Business & Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) of the OECD.

The mission to visit the U.S. late this month is expected to include the owners and CEOs of multiple large business groups. POSCO chairman Kwon Oh-joon, KCCI chairman Park Yong-man and LG vice chairman Koo Bon-joon are likely to join it and SK chairman Chey Tae-won, Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho and Hyundai Motor Company president Chung Jin-haeng are mulling over joining it.