Park Yong-man, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shares the regrets he felt while serving as the president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce for 7 years and 5 months. /Provide a consultation
“Even if a vaccine for novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is released, uncertainties remain. Both the family and the private sector have too much debt.”
This is the story that Park Yong-man, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, brought up in his last year-end interview. Chairman Park said, “We need to be cautious when returning to normal. If we do something wrong, the aftereffects remain.”
Chairman Park is called’Mr. bitter voice’ in the business world. This is because there are frequent remarks of’Doljikgu’ aimed at the government and political circles. At a meeting with the Democratic Party’s Fair Economy Task Force (TF) in October, he opposes the ‘3rd Corporate Regulation Act’ and pointed out that it was “throwing to catch a few sick chickens.” Chairman Park, who has been the chairman of the Korean Award for over 7 years, will remain in office until next March. The following is a question and answer with Chairman Park.
How do you see the economic outlook for next year?
“There is no question that there is a base effect, so it is a recovery. There are certain expectations that the vaccination will begin and the economic stimulus package will improve over this year. However, next year’s recovery is likely to be short-lived. If the aftereffects are not properly managed, the next year can be more difficult. The worrisome thing is debt. The time has come for a closer look at the government’s long-term fiscal soundness. It is the same that families have a lot of debt. It can hold back the economy in the long run.”
There are also many difficult places for companies.
“It will take some time for the real economy to recover stably. Financial support for companies is expected to continue until a stable recovery is entered. It is only after the company recovers that it will be able to pay off the debt. The pressure on corporate bonds from companies that are not superior to those of superior companies is likely to increase, so please continue to apply.”
Are there any changes to watch out for in the post-corona era?
“The digital and non-face-to-face trend will continue for the time being. Interest in new industries, changes in the way we work, changes in technology, and acceptance of these things seem to be much higher than in the past. The perception of companies is also changing rapidly. The era of only supporting growth and profit is over. As one of the economic actors that make up this society, we need to be more active in solving the problem of polarization and participating in the social safety net.”
What would be the best thing that Korea Sang-Ang has done this year?
“If companies and the economy are looking for new opportunities, and laws and institutions hinder them, there is no change in the belief that they must change or emerge. With that thought, countless times asked me to change the law and system, but it was not easy. The method I came up with as a dilemma is’private sandbox’. The idea of innovating the old legal system and expanding business opportunities to young companies was still quite greedy. A little over half a year after the Sandbox Support Center was launched, I worked for 200 days and resolved 84 cases. If you line up the application documents, the distance from here (Namdaemun Chamber of Commerce) to the National Assembly is 6.5 km.”
There were many conflicts with the National Assembly.
“It is a love-hate relationship with the National Assembly. I felt helpless when I wasn’t dealing with laws that deregulated companies, but only those that were burdensome. In particular, I was disappointed not only in the contents of this Regulation 3 Act, but also in the process. I would like to have to deal with it like that of the political bill. I hope this will not happen in the future.”
Are there any countermeasures for the 3rd Corporate Regulation Act?
“Now that the law has already been passed, I would like to say that instead of continuing the exhausting controversy, we must preemptively respond to side effects that may occur within the legal framework. The three laws passed this time correspond to the basic laws. The enforcement rules and enforcement laws should all be made below, but it would be nice if there were measures to prevent side effects. The criticism that’there is damage due to monopoly on decision-making by large shareholders’ was the background for the creation of the law.
There was a voice that economic organizations should unite in relation to the 3rd Corporate Regulation Act.
“I am not sure what unity is for. By nature, economic organizations have a different voice depending on their personality. The purpose of the establishment and the mission are different, and the issues we have focused on are different, so is it possible if we suddenly unite and respond? I think it is wrong to evaluate that it is a dissonance between economic groups if we create a confrontational structure of economics versus government and do not participate in the confrontational structure. In the future, I think that the number of economic organizations gathering and making joint statements should be reduced.”
Did you have any sympathy for the election of the next president?
“We are all set by law. You must be elected in the fourth week of February, but you must go through several legal processes before that. In that sense, you should gather the suspension of the presidency within about a month from now. Then (the outline of the president-elect) will be revealed. Probably whoever you become, the next one will feel a lot of responsibility. The environment has changed so much since I came in.”
Reporter Song Hyung-seok [email protected]