Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, emphasized on the 22nd that he would create a country conducive to corporations.
On that day, Kim held a meeting with the heads of five economic organizations at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said, "This is my biggest promise in the election and the promise I am repeating most importantly."
Kim emphasized, "It is the president's duty to ensure that corporations can freely research, invest, expand globally, and create jobs."
Over 20 people attended the event, including Chairman Choi, Son Kyung-sik, president of the Korea Enterprises Federation, Ryu Jin, president of The Federation of Korean Industries, Yoon Jin-sik, president of the Korea International Trade Association, Choi Jin-sik, chairman of the Korea Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Park Seung-hee, president of Samsung Electronics, Lee Hyoung-hee, chair of the SK Supex Council's communication committee, and Sung Kim, president of Hyundai Motor.
On the 8th, the five economic organizations also held a meeting with Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, requesting support for the cultivation of new industries and responses to tariffs from the United States.
Kim pointed out that an excessive punishment-oriented economic system and unreasonable regulations are deteriorating the environment for corporations. He noted, "While Singapore has 5,000 global corporations with regional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific, Korea has less than 100."
He also criticized the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "How can you legislate the Yellow Envelope Act, which prevents corporations from filing legitimate damage lawsuits after illegal strikes? It is a lie to say you can revive the economy while worsening the environment for corporations."
He added, "It is the president’s first task to create an environment that benefits Korea, even with tariffs, to make it a country conducive to corporations," and expressed commitment by saying, "I will work hard."
In response, Chairman Choi stated, "I resonate with your comments about creating the world's best investment environment and making a country conducive to corporations," but noted, "The current biggest challenge is whether our economy can maintain its growth momentum as the potential growth rate is nearing almost 0%."
He mentioned the need for economic cooperation and attracting 5 million high-level overseas talents to stimulate domestic demand in order to engage with major countries such as the U.S. and China.
Chairman Choi specifically proposed economic cooperation with Japan, which has similar industrial structures and issues, stating, "To engage and create rules with the U.S. and China, we need to increase our size through economic cooperation" and added, "Through this economic alliance, we could reduce high-cost structures to low-cost ones and significantly cut expenses related not only to solving social issues such as low growth, low birth rates, and aging, but also to energy costs." He continued, "If we join forces in high-tech industries or venture businesses, we can make our size even larger."