By Kim Tae-gyu
On March 10, tycoons of the country’s top three conglomerates ― Samsung, Hyundai Motor, and SK ― made it to a bimonthly meeting of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) with newly-elected head Huh Chang-soo.
However, all of them are expected to be no-shows in the second convention under the stewardship of Huh, also the head of energy and construction giant GS Group, which is slated for May 19.
This generates doubts that the FKI, the country’s most powerful business lobby with approximately 600 big corporations under its wing, may be losing the full-fledged support of its flagship members.
``In March, the presence of the big three of Korean business was of great help to the FKI under the helm of new leader Huh,’’ said an industry source familiar with the issue.
``By contrast, things are bad this time around as all of them will forgo the meeting on May 19. They are feared to shun the gathering often down the road, diminishing the influence of the FKI.’’
In response, the federation said it remains to be seen whether the business leaders will participate in the upcoming assembly.
``You might understand that they are extremely busy and their schedules tend to change quite often. Accordingly, we cannot say for sure who will be in the May 19 meeting and who will not,’’ an FKI spokesman said.
``That’s why we usually do not announce the list of participants in advance. Let’s see who will take part.’’
The spokesman added that even if the big three do not participate, such cases are not rare. What he noted was that their presence has little to do with their support for the FKI.
Contrary to the anticipation of the FKI spokesman, the top three tycoons are highly unlikely to be part of the meeting.
Samsung Group leader Lee Kun-hee will not be able to attend the event because he will leave Seoul to underpin PyeongChang’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
As a member of the International Olympic Committee, Lee has backed up PyeongChang’s efforts to host the sports festival. Samsung is the country’s No. 1 conglomerate.
``Lee will be in Lausanne where the technical briefing will take place from May 18 to 19. Accordingly, it will be physically impossible for him to attend the FKI meeting,’’ a Samsung spokesman said.
Hyundai Motor Group also confirmed that its owner will skip the forthcoming gathering for personal reasons.
SK Group said that Chairman Chey Tae-won has yet to make a final decision, but analysts point out that chances are the decision will be negative in consideration of recent problems.
Their rationale: Chey will not want to attract fresh media attention by becoming the most notable figure at the meeting.
Chey grabbed headlines last month after he had reportedly suffered losses from futures derivative investments to the tune of 100 billion won. The SK Group said the money was Chey’s private funds.
The fourth-largest player LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, who did not attend the March meeting, will also be absent in May.