Industry and Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the Korea International Trade Association fell short of expectations in supporting the government during trade negotiations with the United States, pledging to draw up reform measures.
"During the recent negotiations, I thought the trade association was the business group that should have backed the government most actively on the external front, but that function turned out to be seriously lacking," Kim said on the 22nd at a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee. When Rep. Jang Chul-min of the Democratic Party of Korea argued that the association had failed to fulfill its public role, Kim agreed, calling it "a truly painful point."
Jang criticized the association for failing to do its part amid the trade war despite holding vast real estate assets built on what he described as preferential funds. "Assets such as COEX were formed from funds collected in the past as a quasi-tax in return for import approvals, so they are effectively public property," Jang said. "Unlike ordinary business groups, the chairman's pay alone reaches 600 million won, yet it is questionable how much of a role the association is playing in the middle of a trade war." He added that "not only is a former Industry Ministry official serving as standing vice chairman, but an audit is being conducted for the first time in 13 years," and called on the ministry to "set a clear direction for the association's role."
Kim replied that "the points raised carry significant implications in the current trade war," adding, "I will seriously consider reform of the association, bearing in mind that the situation has changed completely from the past." He said he had "already been repeatedly calling on the association to come up with reform measures."