A new European Chamber of Commerce will be established in Korea soon as the Korean government approves it within this week.

“The Ministry of Knowledge Economy plans to give the final approval for the establishment of a new European Chamber of Commerce in Korea by the end of the week,” a ministry spokesperson told The Korea Herald on Monday.

The new organization for European companies operating in Korea will replace the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea, or EUCCK, which shut down in September after being slapped with fines and overdue taxes worth 4.5 billion won ($4.1 million).

Though the basic roles will be the same as the EUCCK ― developing commercial, trade and industrial relations between Korea and the EU member countries ― the legal foundation and focus of the ECCK will be completely different, said Wolfgang Slawinski, who will preside as secretary general of the organization.

“This organization will be completely based on the Korean law and legislation process, so that it does not cause the problems as it did before,” Slawinski told The Korea Herald.

The EUCCK was registered as a foreigners’ organization when it was established in 1986, but became an unregistered group in 1999 as the related law was revised. Some former members of the EUCCK pointed out that the group’s accounting was not transparent due to its ambiguous status as “an organization perceived as a corporation.”

The National Tax Service informed the EUCCK in July that it owed 2.6 billion won in overdue value-added taxes and 1.9 billion won in fines for not issuing tax invoices for in-house magazine ad sales.

The EUCCK’s claim at the time that it didn’t have to pay the taxes, since the advertisement fees were used to publish the free magazines sent out to member companies, was not accepted by the tax authorities. The authorities froze the EUCCK’s accounts as the group failed to pay the full fine.

Slawinski pointed out that the registration process for the ECCK is taking a bit longer than expected because it is to be the first organization to be open under a new law regarding the registration and screening of nonprofit organizations.

“The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said that everything is on the process. At the moment, we are waiting for the final confirmation,” he said.

The overall size of the group will initially be smaller than the EUCCK, but will provide the same support for companies.

“We will be flexible, depending on the support of the members. We will be offering the most company-oriented support,” he said.

The ECCK will open in Seodaemun-gu, central Seoul.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)