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History |
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 The
nation's first commercial Chamber, the Hanseong (i.e., Seoul) Chamber
of Commerce, came into existence in 1884 as the nation struggled
to transform itself into a modern state amidst fierce competition
from foreign powers to dominate the country.
What motivated this creation was the urgent need of Korean merchants
to organize their efforts to combat overpowering foreign capital and
goods, largely from Japan, which launched full-scale inroads into
domestic markets and enjoyed unjust privileges under forcibly contracted
agreements. In the following years, the nation saw several similar
chambers sprout up around the country.
In 1885, the Korean government provided a legal basis to those
voluntarily initiated chambers by proclaiming an ordinance, which
represented the first written article pertaining to the status of
the chamber.
By order of the times, the early chambers centered their activities
on seeking to retrieve lost economic autonomy. It endeavored
to modernize traditional ways of business management, adjust complicated
regulations and set up modern business firms, factories and banks
to effectively vie with foreign competitors.
 However,
the nation's failure to keep its sovereignty asthe result of its merger
with Japan in 1910 nullified those efforts. The Japanese colonial
administration disbanded existing chambers of a nationalistic character
in 1915` and established a pro-Japan Chamber.
Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945 with the defeat of Japan in World
War II, but that rule left painfuI Iegacies: a divided nation with
a distoryed economy.
The nation's economy, structured for Japanese colonial interests,
almost broke down soon after the liberation under sky-rocketing inflation,
low productivity and high unemployment. The government set up in 1948
tried hard to manage the ailing economy, but the efforts were doomed;
the Korean War destroyed most of the industrial facilities on top
of the sacrifice of millions of people.
 Meanwhile
the Chamber of Commerce recovered its national character with the
liberation, but this time lost its statutory status because the previous
colonial laws were abolished in 1946. It was not until 1952,
when the National Assembly passed the Chamber of Commerce
Law, that the Chamber gained its current standing as a legally
constituted economic organization.
The Chamber, reorganized under the new law, did its utmost to reconstruct
the nation's economy from the ruins of war.
With the opening of the 1960s, the nation got into high gear under
the strong initiative of the government. Throughout the period of
growth, KCCI directed most of its activities toward coordinating
government policies and varied interests of commerce and industry,
while making efforts to expand economic cooperation with other countries
on a private level. |
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