What drove Moon to invite Ottogi

Medium-sized food company Ottogi has become the talk of town, as it received an invitation alongside Korea’s top conglomerates to a meeting with President Moon Jae-in focused on job creation and joint growth policies over the weekend.

The meeting, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, is President Moon Jae-in’s first official discussion with business leaders since his inauguration.
Ottogi has drawn attention, as it was put on the guest list despite its relatively small size compared to other heavyweights such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG and SK. 

Ottogi is a company that manufactures and sells condiments, ramen and other instant food. 

As of December 2016, Ottogi was worth approximately 1.6 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in assets.

Following the announcement that the company would be attending the event, Ottogi’s stock prices sharply rose by 7.25 percent Monday to 799,000 won as of market close, hitting a high of 884,000 won per share. 

Industry watchers speculate that Ottogi was included because of its employment practices and history of transparent management.

Ottogi is well-known for having a high proportion of permanent full-time employees. According to Ottogi’s first-quarter filings, the company employs 3,099 people, with just 36 of them on fixed-term contracts. 

The company also has a reputation of being transparent with its management. Current Chairman Ham Young-joon publicly pledged to pay the 150 billion won in taxes incurred by inheriting shares in Ottogi from the late honorary Chairman Ham Tae-ho over five years. 

Ham is also known to have donated shares in Ottogi to the company’s charity foundation.

These practices are considered to be in line with the Moon administration’s goals to transition part-time and fixed-term employees to full-time permanent positions, and to crack down on illicit business practices by large companies.

It is yet unclear what will be discussed at the meeting, which was announced Sunday by Cheong Wa Dae with less than a week’s notice. 

There is also uncertainty surrounding the executives who will attend the meeting. Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, is likely to be absent because the event overlaps with court dates for his ongoing trial related to the bribery scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye. 

Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will be absent as he remains under arrest over the same corruption case. He will be represented instead by Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun. Hyundai Motor Group has also not confirmed its representative.

Confirmed attendees of the meeting include CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik in the stead of Chairman Lee Jay-hyun, Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon, KT CEO Hwang Chang-gyu, Posco Chairman Kwon Oh-joon and Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman Choi Kil-sun.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)