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| President Moon Jae-in, center, is briefed over the specifics of an industrial event, aimed at promoting innovative business ideas and local startups, at Seoul Square building in downtown Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Kim Yoo-chul
President Moon Jae-in will invite some 200 business leaders and small business owners to a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 7 in an effort to expand communication with the business community, presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Thursday.
In late December, presidential chief of policy Kim Soo-hyun met with executives at top-tier conglomerates to address difficulties they are facing in doing business here, Kim said.
"Cheong Wa Dae has been operating various channels for needs-based open communication with company executives from time-to-time," the spokesman said in a text message to reporters.
Samsung Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun, LG Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo and SK President Kim Joon attended the breakfast meeting with the presidential policy chief at the Seoul Plaza Hotel, downtown Seoul. The LG vice chairman Kwon told The Korea Times that the meeting was "very informal" and the participants exchanged goodwill gestures with each other.
Separately, Cheong Wa Dae plans to hold a casual meeting with a new format with senior executives at leading conglomerates. The upcoming meeting planned for mid-January will be directly chaired by Moon.
Moon appears to be rethinking his relationship with top-tier conglomerates, here, which he characterized as the "deep-rooted evils" of the country, as his administration is exploring ways to improve the local economy.
Since he took the presidential office, the President blamed conglomerates for fostering a culture of corruption and influence-peddling that built up over decades as a result of "hidden ties" between politicians and businesses.
Moon's approval ratings hit 47.1 percent in mid-December, last year, the lowest since he took office in May 2017. The results were mainly due to tepid economic growth and the little impact of the minimum wage increase.
In order to maintain political support, Cheong Wa Dae officials said President Moon's economic team will hold more casual meetings with top decision-makers at Samsung, LG, SK and Hyundai _ Korea's top-four chaebols.
South Korea is an export-driven economy. Its economy, Asia's fourth-largest, is heavily dependent upon investment and hiring plans by leading conglomerates.
Growing concerns about the state of the economy are at the top of the priority list for almost all South Koreans, particularly those looking for employment.
Despite the minimum wage increase and a decision to cap the number of hours employees can work each week, which follow Moon's "income-led" growth policy, youth unemployment and underemployement rates remain high as business owners were reluctant to hire more, fearing the rising fixed costs.
Hyundai Research Institute expects South Korea's economy will only grow about 2.5 percent this year and is headed for a low point in the second half of this year or early next year.
