The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry
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G-77 Network of Chambers of Commerce
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The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry
45, Namdaemunno 4-ga, Chung-gu,
Seoul 100-743
Tel.: 316-3114
Fax.: 757-9475
E-Mail : trade@www.kcci.or.kr
The nation's first commercial chamber, the Hansong (i.e., Seoul) Chamber of Commerce, came into existence in 1884 as the nation struggled to transform itself into a modern state amidst fierce competition from foreign powers to dominate the country.
What motivated this creation was the urgent need of Korean merchants to organize their efforts to combat overpowering foreign capital and goods, largely from Japan, which launched full-scale inroads into domestic markets and enjoyed unjust privileges under forcibly contracted agreements. In the following years, the nation saw several similar chambers sprout up around the country.
In 1885, the Korean government provided a legal basis to those voluntarily initiated chambers by proclaiming an ordinance, which represented the first written article pertaining to the status of the chamber.
By order of the times, the early chambers centered their activities on seeking to retrieve lost economic autonomy. It endeavored to modernize traditional ways of business management, adjust complicated regulations and set up modern business firms, factories and banks to effectively vie with foreign competitors.
However, the nation's failure to keep its sovereignty as the result of its merger with Japan in 1910 nullified those efforts. The Japanese colonial administration disbanded existing chambers of a nationalistic character in 1915 and established a pro-Japan chamber.
Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945 with the defeat of Japan in World War II, but that rule left painful legacies; a divided nation with a distorted economy.
The nation's economy, structured for Japanese colonial interests, almost broke down soon after the liberation under skyrocketing inflation, low productivity and high unemployment. The government set up in 1948 tried hard to manage the ailing economy, but the efforts were doomed; the Korean War destroyed most of the industrial facilities on top of the sacrifice of millions of people.
Meanwhile, the chamber of commerce recovered its national character with the liberation, but this time lost its statutory status because the previous colonial laws were abolished in 1946. It was not until 1952, when the National Assembly passed the present Chamber of Commerce Law, that the chamber gained its current standing as a legally constituted economic organization.
The chamber, reorganized under the new law, did its utmost to reconstruct the nation's economy from the ruins of war.
With the opening of the 1960s, the nation got into high gear under the strong initiative of the government. Throughout the period of growth, the KCCI directed most of its activities toward coordinating government policies and varied interests of commerce and industry, while making efforts to expand economic cooperation with other countries on a private level.
The Chamber has 58 regular members and 406 special members (as of April 1996). The members of regular status are the local chambers established in major cities and counties through the country.
Each local chamber itself comprises as its members all the natural or legal persons engaged in business activities in its respective area of jurisdiction, regardless of their scale or line of business. The national total of the members of the chambers reaches as many as two million.
The members participate in the KCCI activities through such representative bodies as the Councils and Committees, which they form through election among themselves.
The General Council is the highest decision-making body of the KCCI. It is composed of the regular members and 50 special councillors chosen from among the special members.
The Council makes decision on important matters, such as the Chamber's major annual projects and budgets, the collection of membership dues, the issuance of important recommendation to the government of commerce and industry, the settlement of accounts, and so on. It has regular meeting in February annually.
Charged with the handling of the Chamber's affairs concerning the execution of the decisions made by the General Council, the Standing Council makes practical decisions on major annual projects and other related matters.
It also carries out deliberative functions, formulating the agenda to present to the General Council and reviewing the results of the Committees' activities.
In order to fully address current issues of different sectors concerning members' interests, the Chamber operates specialized committees composed of its members of the respective sectors.
The committees mainly aim at advancing the position of the respective sectors by consolidating the views of industry. To this end, each committee has its membership constituted in such a way so that it can carry out its role of representing the opinions of their industries and businesses most effectively.
When the committee meets, the members take up and discuss outstanding issues within the range of their concern, and try to reach a consensus on the issues. They review government policies in light of their position and, if necessary, adopt recommendations to be conveyed to the relevant government authorities after deliberation by the Standing Council.
Meanwhile, these activities are very important to the Chamber in that the basic contours of the Chamber's projects are determined according to the policy directions taken by the members at the meetings of the committees.
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