Former presidents of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises expressed concern over a bill introduced in the National Assembly to abolish the limit on consecutive terms for the federation's president. The KBIZ labor union also publicly voiced opposition, fueling internal backlash.
According to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises labor union on the 6th, former federation presidents Park Sang-hee (18th and 19th), Kim Young-soo (20th and 21st), Kim Yong-gu (22nd), and Park Sung-taek (25th) issued a joint statement that day urging a reexamination of the "Partial Amendment to the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act," for which lawmaker Jeong Jin-uk is the lead sponsor.
Current law limits the president's consecutive terms to one. The amendment would change the provision that the president of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises "may serve one consecutive term" to "may serve consecutive terms," removing the limit on the number of consecutive terms.
If the amendment removes the limit on consecutive terms, 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. next year, and upon completion, the cumulative tenure would reach 16 years, making Kim the "longest-serving" president. This is the result of the current rules, which limit consecutive terms to one but place no cap on total nonconsecutive terms.
In the statement, former presidents said, "The amendment is an anachronistic bill that could undermine the public nature and principles of democratic management of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises," adding, "The federation is not a mere private economic group but an organization with public functions that represents 8.3 million small and medium businesses and participates in implementing government policy."
They added, "The current legal limit of one consecutive term for the president is an institutional device to prevent the privatization of the organization and to ensure rotation in industry and regional representation," arguing, "If the cap on consecutive terms is lifted and long tenures become entrenched, the organization's public nature and representativeness could be weakened."
They also noted that in cooperative-based organizations such as NongHyup and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, the president is legally barred from serving multiple terms, limiting long tenures. The point is that a minimum institutional device is needed to represent small and medium-sized businesses and cooperatives and to maintain public interest and democracy. In particular, because KBIZ operates based on government policy and public funds, they said certain institutional controls are necessary.
They further said, "At a critical moment when we must represent the diverse voices of small and medium-sized businesses amid rapid shifts in the global economic environment," adding, "Rather than rushing the amendment through, the National Assembly should carefully reconsider it in light of the purpose of the cap on consecutive terms."
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises labor union also opposed the bill and pushed back. A union official said, "We are not opposing the amendment to target a specific individual," adding, "As opposition has emerged among employees, the union has represented that view and expressed its opposition."