Chey Tae-won, head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, acknowledged problems in the data verification process and ordered measures to prevent a recurrence after a KORCHAM press release citing an overseas finding that "the outflow of wealthy people from Korea has surged" stirred controversy. This came right after President Lee Jae-myung criticized the press release as "a deliberate fake news."
According to KORCHAM on the 7th, Chey said regarding the press release controversy, "As a responsible institution, we should have scrutinized the data closely," and added, "Please make every effort to ensure that such incidents never happen again."
KORCHAM also issued an apology that day, saying, "We deeply apologize for causing unnecessary confusion by citing external statistics on the outflow of high-net-worth individuals without sufficient verification among the contents of the press release."
It added, "To prevent a recurrence of such cases in the future, we will faithfully verify the facts and the accuracy of statistics when preparing materials based on a strict sense of responsibility, and we will be more cautious by strengthening internal systems so they can be checked objectively."
On the 3rd, KORCHAM cited an overseas finding in a press release titled "A study on inheritance tax revenue outlook analysis and the effects of diversifying payment methods" that 2,400 high-net-worth individuals left Korea last year, doubling from the previous year, the fourth highest in the world.
However, controversy arose at home and abroad that the methodology used by the U.K. immigration consultancy Henley & Partners, which conducted the survey, was inadequate, making the results hard to trust.
That afternoon, KORCHAM asked outlets to refrain from citing the data until additional verification and confirmation, saying "there are limits to citing the related statistics as academic or official statistics," but the controversy did not subside.
President Lee Jae-myung posted a media column on X (formerly Twitter) addressing the controversy and wrote, "It is unbelievable that the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an official body established by law, would publicly engage in such conduct."
He also said, "Deliberate fake news intended to cloud the judgment of sovereign citizens is an enemy of democracy," adding, "We must hold those responsible strictly to account and establish safeguards to prevent a recurrence."