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Gov't to audit KCCI over spending on APEC events
The Piano Land cruise ship arrives at Pohang Yeongilman Port in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Oct. 28, 2025. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry brought the vessel to provide lodging for guests of the APEC CEO Summit held Oct. 29-31 in Gyeongju of the province. Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Purported rebate, hotel overbooking to undergo scrutiny
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) faces a government audit over alleged misappropriation and misuse of the budget for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) events held in October and early November last year.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources will start looking into the lobby group, which led the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The KCCI said on Monday it had launched its own investigation over the issue and will cooperate with the government’s audit.
The allegations stemmed from a report that said one of the organizing committee’s team leaders attempted to obtain a rebate from a hotel the committee booked to provide accommodation for participants of the CEO Summit held from Oct. 28 to 31. An internal KCCI report showed the person got the hotel to issue an invoice charging 48.5 million won ($33,500) when the actual amount was 45 million won. He then tried to have the hotel wire the surplus 3.5 million won to his personal bank account.
KCCI said the act did not go beyond the attempt stage, and the official has been suspended from duty for an internal inquiry.
Other allegations indicated that KCCI’s handling of expenses for the event had resulted in excessive spending over multiple accounts.
According to KCCI, it had selected a company in an auction to commission for organizing the CEO Summit events with a contract of 2.85 billion won. Following the event, the company returned with an invoice worth over 12 billion won. KCCI, apparently not expecting the huge sum, negotiated with the firm and agreed to lower the figure to a little over 10 billion won.
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won delivers an opening speech for the APEC CEO Summit at Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Oct. 29, 2025. Korea Times file
The committee’s booking of two cruise ships to offer accommodations for summit guests also led to KCCI’s excessive spending issue. The cruises, docked at Yeongilman Port in Pohang, 40 kilometers north of Gyeongju, were prepared to provide 1,000 suites for the guests. It turned out less than 100 of the guests used the facilities, forcing KCCI to make its employees spend nights aboard the ships instead.
The cruise ships were not the only case of KCCI’s accommodation overbooking for guests, as other hotels it had booked did not have the required number of guests. The underuse of the reserved suites caused KCCI to lose 3 billion won as part of a minimum usage guarantee.
A KCCI official said the excessive spending was a result of the committee trying to arrange additional programs stemming from the summit. He said the overbooking of cruise ship cabins involved multiple unforeseen factors including some of the Chinese guests being unable to attend and some hotels in Gyeongju becoming suddenly available.
“We usually have to book enough hotel suites to guarantee accommodation for our guests. There were some unexpected events that reduced our guest roster such as some programs related to American firms changing,” the official said. “We will fully cooperate with the government’s planned audit.”
The KCCI labor union on Sunday issued a statement demanding all committee members be subject to the audit. The union said the government investigation should be followed by due punishment and legal penalties, and that the investigation is necessary for KCCI to recover the trust of member firms, citizens and employees.