By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
For decades, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) was a solid advocate of the chaebol-led entrepreneurs' community as the largest business lobby.
While it is trying to raise its voice to make public sentiment more favorable to conglomerates, the organization is now facing a new crisis of credibility. Its surveys are under suspicion of being manipulated for members.
Wednesday, the lobby group announced the outcome of research on the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) and said a majority of Korean people hope the trade pact will be ratified as soon as possible. It added that in a survey of 800 adults, 50.5 percent of respondents said they want the FTA to be completed swiftly.
Hours later, however, the FKI changed its words and said it was an erroneous statement and that 50.5 percent of the "respondents who approved the FTA" said they want a quick ratification, meaning not a majority but a bit over one quarter favor swift ratification.
"It was a mistake in internal communication while rushing to complete the statement on time," said an FKI official who declined to be identified.
Several other recent statements by the FKI substantially weaken its credibility.
In support of the government-initiated job sharing movement, the lobby group announced in February a report of comparisons on starting salaries between Korean and Japanese employees. It came with an announcement that the nation's 30 conglomerates will cut annual salaries of their newly recruited workers by as much as 28 percent.
According to the report, the starting wage for employees fresh out of college stood at 1.98 million won ($1,471) in 2007, way over 1.62 million won in Japan and 1.73 million won in Singapore. The argument was used to justify a huge wage cut.
The Korea Labor & Society Institute (KLSI), a progressive organization, argued that the FKI altered actual data to strengthen its case. In the report, the FKI-presented the Korean wage was all-inclusive of various allowances and fixed bonus, while that of Japan ruled them out, the KLSI said.
Data from another pro-business body, the Korea Employers Federation (KEF), ironically backed the KLSI argument. The FKI initially said the data was cited from a 2007 KEF report, but the document in question said the Japanese average starting wage was 1.92 million won, up 300,000 won from the FKI statement.
The FKI used a 2007 report even when the KEF had its newer edition for last year on the same issue, which said Korean starting salaries average 2.03 million, in comparison with Japan's 2.63 million won. The Korean won had unprecedented high value in 2007.
Considering the country's gross domestic production (GDP), it is still correct to say Korea has a high starting wage. As of 2007, the wage is equal to 127.9 percent of GDP in Korea, while the rate goes down to 72.3 percent in Japan.
But it's more so because Korea has more burdens in wages to cover the lack of social welfare, which is mostly inferior to that of advanced countries, KLSI president Kim Yoo-sun said.
In another misinforming case last month, the FKI was grilled over a survey of non-permanent workers. It said over 80 percent of them approved a revision of regulations that would elongate the minimum contract term before having an opportunity to secure a permanent job.
Criticism worsened as the organization refused to disclose its questionnaire. The FKI said it decided not to reveal the survey content because "it would just stir things up even worse in the end."
The business lobby said it is well aware of current controversies, but that won't keep it from continuing its usual job.
"We understand the general public could be more sensitive than usual," the anonymous FKI official said. "We are working on polishing internal communication so there will be less misunderstanding of what we publicize."