Kim Kimoon Rules Out Another Run in Four Years: "I Might Visit, but I Won't Come Back to Work"

Candidates for next chairman skip forum amid "concerns over premature campaigning"
Next chairman should be "someone who can do the job well"; "fostering unity is important"
28th chairman election set for Feb. 2: "Date changed to extend the campaign

Kim Kimoon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, dismissed speculation that he might run for another term in four years.

Meeting with reporters at the 2026 SME Leaders Forum at Lotte Hotel Jeju on October 22, Kim said, "I told the staff that I might come to visit, but I wouldn't come to work at the Korea Federation of SMEs," ruling out the possibility of running again. He added, "It was very hard, and that's my honest assessment." Under the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act, the federation's chairman may be re-elected only once. Kim cannot run in the 28th election, scheduled for February next year, but is in principle eligible to run in the 29th election, four years from now.

Kim Kimoon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, answers questions from reporters at the 2026 SME Leaders Forum at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 22nd. Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ)

Kim served as chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs for a total of 16 years, from 2007 to 2014 and from 2019 to 2026. Early this year, a bill to amend the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperatives Act and remove the limit on the number of times the federation's chairman can be re-elected was introduced in the National Assembly. However, the bill was effectively shelved after the Ministry of SMEs and Startups voiced opposition. The chairman represents about 900 small and medium-sized enterprise cooperatives and exercises authority over personnel appointments and budget execution, among other matters, earning the nickname "president of SMEs."

Despite expectations that this year's Leaders Forum, held four months before the election of a new chairman, would serve as a prelude to the election, those mentioned as potential candidates did not attend. Regarding this, Kim said, "The board of directors and others expressed broader concerns about campaigning, and since there is no pre-registration system for the federation chairman election, anyone who starts campaigning now would definitely be caught engaging in premature campaigning." He added, "I understand that the candidates agreed after we interviewed them individually and asked whether they could refrain from attending the Leaders Forum altogether."

Kim Kimoon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, speaks with reporters during a Q&A session at the 2026 SME Leaders Forum, held at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 22nd. Korea Federation of SMEs

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised that candidates have lost an opportunity to present their visions because they could not attend the event. In July, the Korea Federation of SMEs passed a motion to move the next chairman election from February 28 to February 2 next year. Kim said, "Moving the chairman election up to early February and extending the campaign period by 10 days was also intended to give people the right to know." He added, "I thought the turnaround was too tight, with the handover on February 28 and the new chairman taking office on March 1."

Asked what qualities and leadership the next chairman would need, Kim stressed, "It should be someone who can do the job well." He said, "There are various criteria, such as whether someone is self-made, as well as exports and sales, and there will be ways to compare candidates." He added, "The character to lead the federation while fostering harmony is also important."

Major policy issues Kim addressed during his term included the supply price linkage system, reform of the family business succession system, and exempting joint actions by cooperatives from being treated as collusion. Kim said, "Improving policies is also very important. I think there is no end to the work that needs to be done for small and medium-sized enterprises, but I believe we have wrapped up three major issues."

With K-shaped polarization worsening, Kim called for change in the manufacturing industry. "Small and medium-sized enterprises need to pursue AX (AI transformation). Physical AI should replace human labor in factories and enable them to operate 24 hours a day, creating competitiveness," he said. "Data needs to be standardized by industry. Fortunately, a substantial budget for physical AI has been allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises, and about 10 cooperatives are working with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to try to standardize the data." He added, "For Korea to become one of the world's three leading AI powers, companies need to establish AI in their operations. The Korea Federation of SMEs will step up its efforts and work with them to make this happen."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.