By Oh Young-jin
Leaders of Korea’s top 15 conglomerates and financial institutions will attend the G20 Seoul Business Summit, a precursor to the summit of the top 20 global leaders, in Seoul in November.
The participating business leaders include Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee; Hyundai Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo; SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won; LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo; Lotte Group Vice Chairman Shin Dong-bin; POSCO CEO Chung Joon-yang; GS Caltex Chairman Hur Dong-soo; Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman Min Keh-sik; Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho; KT CEO Lee Suk-chae; Doosan Chairman Park Yong-hyun; Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn; KB Financial Chairman Euh Yoon-dae; Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae and Daewoo Securities Chairman Lim Ki-young.
Organizers have announced that about 100 foreign business leaders are also scheduled to participate in the two-day event so the composition of a Korean delegation was made to best reflect Korea Inc.
Thus, the reigning 12 are CEOs or chairmen of Korea’s top business groups and 3 represent the financial sector. To reflect fairness in the selection, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) used a selection criteria in which the conglomerates were ranked. For the three financial sector leaders, recommendations were first received in consideration of their reputation in the industry and past experience in participating in international meetings.
Meanwhile, the 120 leaders from the business and financial sectors will be divided into 12 working groups under four agenda items to prepare comprehensive reports on the topic of sustainable and balanced growth.
As for the four agendas, trade and investment will be tackled by Hyundai Automotive and LG; finance will be the focus for KB, Daewoo, Hanwha and Hanjin; green growth will be assigned to POSCO, GS, Samsung and Hyundai Heavy; while corporate social responsibility will be the target topic for KT, Lotte, Kyobo and Doosan.