The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises is reportedly pushing a system overhaul to remove term limits for chairs of member cooperatives. As a bill to abolish the rule limiting consecutive terms for the federation's president has been introduced in the National Assembly, internal criticism has emerged over the push to change the chair term-limit rules.
According to KBIZ on the 4th, the federation held a regular general meeting on the 26th in Yeouido, Seoul. After adjournment, it reportedly briefed members who attended the meeting on a "Partial Amendment to the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act" that would abolish consecutive-term limits for the KBIZ president, cooperative chairs, and federation executives. The bill was spearheaded late last year by Rep. Jeong Jin-uk of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The executive group is said to hold the position that in some regions or cooperatives, no one steps forward to serve as chair, making it difficult to sustain the organization, and that term limits are hampering cooperative operations.
Current law limits the federation president to one consecutive term. Cooperative chairs and presidents can serve two consecutive terms. The amendment changes the provision that the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises president "may serve only one consecutive term" to "may serve consecutive terms," eliminating the cap, and revises the clause on cooperative chairs' terms from "may serve only two consecutive terms" to "matters related to consecutive terms shall be prescribed by the articles of association."
The rationale is that capping the number of consecutive terms by law could restrict organizational autonomy when controls can be exercised through the general meeting and the articles of association.
If the amendment removes consecutive-term limits, KBIZ President Kim Ki-moon could run again for president. Kim served as the 23rd and 24th KBIZ president from 2007 to 2015 and has held the 26th and 27th presidencies from 2019 to the present. The current term runs through Feb. of next year; upon completing it, he will set a record as the "longest-serving" president with a cumulative 16 years. This is the result of the current rule that limits consecutive terms to one but imposes no limit on nonconsecutive terms.
Kim has reportedly conveyed that there is no intention to seek another term.
Opinions are divided over abolishing consecutive-term limits. Some also argue that scrapping the limits could weaken personnel rotation.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said, "Even if the amendment passes, cooperative chairs can still face restrictions on consecutive terms by revising each cooperative's articles of association." It added, "Cooperatives with nationwide jurisdictions must also undergo approval procedures by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and regional cooperatives must be approved by the heads of the respective local governments."