By Kim Hyun-bin

The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), are scrambling to host U.S. President Joe Biden during his expected visit to Korea in May as the country's two leading business lobby groups compete for prominence under the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration, according to industry officials, Monday.

"KCCI and the FKI are the two major lobby groups and one of them is most likely to become the representative economic group for the Yoon administration and all eyes are on who will be selected," said an industry official familiar with the matter.

The FKI Chairman Huh Chang-soo recently sent Kim Bong-man, head of the International Cooperation Office, to the U.S. to meet with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, while discussing possible preparations for Biden's visit to Korea.

FKI Chairman Huh Chang-soo

"If President Biden comes, there may be a meeting between U.S.-Korea business officials. When Kim visited the U.S., we expressed our opinion about wanting to host the possible presidential visit." an FKI official said. "At that time, The FKI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce discussed a wide array of issues including customs issues between the two countries and supply chain disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis."

In the past, the FKI used to play the representative role for large business groups, but its influence has diminished since being embroiled in a national corruption scandal in 2016, which put former President Park Geun-hye behind bars.

Due to the incident, the four leading conglomerates ― Samsung, Hyundai, SK, and LG ― withdrew their memberships from the FKI. After President Moon Jae-in took office, the lobby group suffered the humiliating blow of being excluded from key business events hosted by Cheong Wa Dae. However, the FKI is actively seeking to recover its status as the leading business lobby group and hopes to work closely with the incoming Yoon administration.

KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won

It is reported that KCCI, headed by Chairman Chey Tae-won, recently had a meeting with the presidential transition committee to discuss President Biden's visit.

"As it is reported, Biden is expected to arrive on May 20th or the 21st. Even though the U.S. delegation is visiting Korea, the U.S. side becomes the host to arrange the agenda and sends out invitations for economic meetings between the two countries. So we are communicating closely with the U.S. Embassy in Korea," a senior KCCI official said.

The KCCI took the place of the FKI during the Moon Jae-in administration and led government-related events. However, as the government is soon to change, there has been a great deal of interest in the industry as to whether the organization can continue to maintain the leading economic role for the incoming government.