Korea CSO Association officially launches…will apply for incorporation this year

Aims to secure a '90% association membership rate'…the association speeds up to make a third attempt for incorporated association

Held an inaugural general meeting…elected Lee Kyu-hyun as chairman, drafted the articles of incorporation, approved the 2026 business plan

The Korea Pharmaceutical Contract Sales Organization Association (KCSOA) held its inaugural general meeting and officially launched.

KCSOA aims to apply to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) for approval to establish an incorporated association within the year and obtain approval early next year. After two failed attempts to secure incorporated association status, KCSOA plans to strengthen its membership and organizational foundation through this official launch and make a third attempt.

Lee Kyu-hyun elected chairman… plans to expand CSO membership rate to 90%

The KCSOA held its inaugural general meeting at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the afternoon of the 19th. It resolved key agenda items, including establishing KCSOA, finalizing the articles of incorporation, appointing the inaugural executive board, and approving the business plan for fiscal year 2026.

Lee Kyu-hyun, CEO of Medihealthcare, was elected as the president of KCSOA. In addition, the appointed executive board members include: ▲ Secretary-General Lim Jong-yong, ▲ Vice President of Platform Cha Sang-jun, ▲ Vice President of Direct Sales Lee BoReum, ▲ Vice President of Pharma & Bio Yoo Ho-rim, ▲ Policy Directors Yoo Won-jeong and Lee Sam-yeol, ▲ Education Directors Park Sang-hyeok and Choi Byung-cheol, ▲ Academic Affairs Director Yoon Jeong-ho, ▲ Public Relations Director Seo Kang-won, ▲ Trustee of Director Kim Gyu-yi, ▲ External Cooperation Director Jeong Hae-woong, and ▲ Compliance (Legal) Director Kim Seong-soo.

KCSOA also finalized its articles of incorporation during the meeting. The articles contain basic regulations necessary for operating KCSOA, such as the corporation's purpose, membership, officers, general assembly, assets, and accounting. Membership is divided into categories including regular members, corporate members, and executive members.

KCSOA established its founding objective as 'enhancing distribution transparency in the pharmaceutical promotion and sales market and creating a sound ecosystem.' KCSOA aims to elevate the credibility of the CSO industry by serving as a policy communication channel while strengthening ethical management and education.

KCSOA Chairman Lee Kyu-hyun

KCSOA pointed to the absence of a governing body, limitations in policy response, and a lack of common industry standards as major challenges currently facing the CSO market. Its plan is to establish common standards applicable across the industry, such as standard contracts as well as fee and ethics guidelines, while also actively engaging in policy responses regarding the CSO reporting system.

The 2026 business plan was also finalized. One of KCSOA's core goals is to secure representativeness for the CSO industry. By expanding membership among nationally registered CSOs, it set a goal of a '90% KCSOA membership rate.'

It is also pursuing the introduction of its self-certification system, 'K-CSO'. The plan is to grant certification to CSOs that meet certain criteria and operate a Silver/Gold grading system. The dissemination of standard contracts was also presented as a major initiative. KCSOA plans to expand standard contract usage among certified member companies to 80% and unify the policy response channel.

Member education will also be reinforced. Targeting a 98% completion rate, it will also hold regular roundtable meetings with policy authorities such as the MOHW and the National Assembly. As the importance of compliance and ethics education has grown since implementing the reporting system, KCSOA aims to play a central role in providing education and information.

KCSOA overcomes inaugural general meeting hurdle, plans to apply for incorporation for the third time within the year

After concluding its inaugural general meeting, KCSOA's top priority is to obtain approval to establish an incorporated association. KCSOA plans to apply to the MOHW for non-profit incorporated association approval during the fourth quarter of this year. Considering the time required for ministry reviews and supplementary consultations, whether approval will be granted is expected to be decided early next year. Once approval is granted, follow-up procedures such as corporate registration and business registration will be undertaken.

KCSOA plans to make a third attempt. KCSOA previously applied for approval to establish an incorporated association twice but did not meet the MOHW's threshold for demonstrating the corporation's sustainability and industry representation in terms of membership size, business performance, and organizational foundation.

Accordingly, KCSOA has focused on strengthening areas identified as lacking in previous reviews, such as membership expansion and organizational restructuring. In particular, the growing need for a communication channel representing the industry after pharmaceutical contract sales organizations were integrated into the institutional system through the implementation of the CSO reporting system also forms the background of pursuing this establishment approval.

Although CSOs perform pharmaceutical sales and promotion duties commissioned by pharmaceutical companies, company sizes and forms vary widely, with a considerable number of small-scale CSOs operating as sole proprietorships. As related regulations such as the reporting system, mandatory education, and expenditure reports have been implemented one after another, the need for a representative body to convey opinions and establish common standards between the government and the industry has increased.