The origins of the U.S.-Korea Business Council and the Korea-U.S. Business Council date to July 1986, when James M. Voss, chairman of the Caltex Corporation, and Dr. Nam Duck-Woo, chairman of the Korea-U.S. Economic Council (KUSEC), agreed to organize a joint conference of U.S. and Korean business executives. The U.S.-Korea Business Council and the Korea-U.S. Business Council were established in 1987 to realize this vision.

The U.S.-Korea Business Council was established as an independent organization under the chairmanship of David Roderick, chairman of the USX Corporation. KUSEC (now hosted by the Korea International Trade Association) assumed responsibility as the secretariat of the Korean council, which was chaired by Dr. Nam Duck-woo. The two councils held their first joint steering committee meeting in March 1998 and their inaugural joint conference in October 1988 in Seoul, Korea.

The founding mission of the councils was to foster better business ties between the United States and Korea, and to promote the bilateral economic and political relationship in order to expand trade and investment between the two countries. Through dialogue, working groups, and other unilateral and joint initiatives, the councils for more than twenty years have led efforts in both the United States and Korea to improve the bilateral trade and investment environment.

In 1999, the Federation of Korean Industries assumed responsibility from KUSEC as the secretariat of the Korea-U.S. Business Council. In 2002, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce became secretariat of the U.S.-Korea Business Council.

The councils were early advocates for a U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, first urging U.S. and Korean government leaders in 2000 to consider entering into FTA negotiations in order to further promote bilateral trade. The councils actively worked to promote the conclusion of bilateral investment treaty negotiations and led calls for the opening of bilateral FTA negotiations. In February 2006, the U.S.-Korea Business Council launched the U.S.-Korea FTA Business Coalition in conjunction with the announcement by the U.S. and Korean governments of their intention to enter into FTA talks. In Korea, the Korea-U.S. Business Council played a key role in establishing the FTA Industry Alliance.