Main opposition party chief Rep. Moon Jae-in on Tuesday met with representatives of the country’s large businesses, praising their commitment to inter-Korean exchanges in a rare visit seemingly aimed at underscoring his security initiatives and assuaging the business community.

In his first-ever visit to the Federation of Korea Industry, South Korea’s biggest business lobby group, the chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy expressed his endorsement to the FKI’s recent initiative to foster economic exchanges between the two Koreas and hailed it as a way to thaw icy relations.

“I’d like to applaud the group’s efforts to improve inter-Korea relations through economic cooperation,” said Moon. “If the government takes the lead to pave the way for economic cooperation, it will give us an opportunity to expand our economy and find a new opportunity for growth.”

NPAD chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hands with Federation of Korea Industry chairman Huh Chang-soo. Yonhap
Observers said the meeting was a rare occasion where the interests of both the NPAD and the FKI converge. The progressive NPAD has been clashing with business leaders over its attempt to increase corporate taxes and opposition to various reform measures of the labor market.

Last month, Moon announced an initiative titled “New economic map on the Korean peninsula,” in an apparent step to secure an upper hand in the security agenda popular during elections. The parliamentary elections are set for next April.

The roadmap outlines plans to form a single economic entity of the two Koreas that leads to regional economic cooperation in Northeast Asia.

FKI, for its part, has also shown interest in the inter-Korean economic cooperation. Last July, the FKI laid out its own initiative to strengthen economic ties with the North and use it as a way to jump-start the sluggish economy that is frequently dented by cross-border military tensions.

“We need to create a situation where both the South and the North reap benefits,” FKI chairman Huh Chang-soo said. “Once we deepen economic ties (with the North), the impact from political and military tensions could be lessened,” Huh said.

The NPAD has been pushing to reform Korea’s family-owned conglomerates, or chaebol, whose governance and business practices have been blamed for the nation’s stagnant economy.

Even during the meeting with the FKI, the NPAD’s staunch floor leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul did not shy away from stressing the need for reform.

“Marginal businesses (companies with an interest coverage ratio below 100 percent for three consecutive years) are becoming the source of a ‘Korea Discount,’” Lee said, adding that past practices of a workout or injecting public money will fall short of recovering them.

Experts described Moon’s attendance as an approach to win over independent voters whose political allegiance might vary depending on different political agendas, such as economic and security issues.

“I believe that Moon’s approach is to attract those voters who are in the middle,” said Yoon Pyung-joong, a political philosophy professor at Hanshin University. “As a leader of the main opposition party, Moon needs to learn how to go beyond ideological party lines,” Yoon said.

By Yeo Jun Suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)

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