KCCI chairman to conduct first major reshuffle

The front of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building (KCCI) / Korea Times file

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industries (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won is expected to conduct the first sweeping personnel reshuffle at the nation's largest business lobby group since he took office in February last year, according to people familiar with the matter Wednesday. The reshuffle is scheduled to take place soon after the Lunar New Year holiday.

The change will likely affect most top executives and team leaders as the KCCI is gearing up to deal with the new administration, which will be inaugurated in May, they said. Several top executives are expected to resign next week, while low-ranking staffers will face a drastic personnel reshuffle and organizational changes in the following weeks.

KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won

"The top three executives have been asked to voluntarily resign and will step down from their posts," a KCCI official said. "Regularly, the internal executive reshuffle is held in February and the follow up reshuffle for other staff is held in early March."

Chairman Chey, who is also the head of SK Group, was elected as the president of the Seoul Chamber of Commerce (SCC) last February and the chairman of the KCCI in March last year and has been running the organization without any major personnel changes since taking his post.

"The chairman took the first year to adjust and did not make any personnel changes, but is scheduled to make changes early next month," KCCI official said.

As the head of a representative economic group for the past year, Chey has focused on diminishing anti-corporate sentiment and enhancing communication.

According to industry officials, Chey is aiming to enhance platformization and internationalization to better aid small and medium-sized enterprises and strengthen global trade functions through the reshuffle.

"It is necessary to accurately measure the social value created by companies, understand the people's priorities, and communicate," Chey emphasized during a New Year business community meeting, last month.

Apart from being the Chairman of the SCC and the KCCI, Chey is also the chairman of SK Group.

As the chairman of SK Group, Chey has emphasized environmental, social and governance (ESG) management placing environmental crisis and social problem resolution and transparency of governance at the core of management.

Another economic group, the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), will hold a general meeting in February to determine whether or not to re-appoint Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik. The term of office of the president of the KEF is two years, and generally in the past, presidents have been reappointed for a second term.

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