Investigation Into The Practices Of The Chaebol example essay topic

News Article Summary / Opinion S. Korea crackdown on big business Introduction This article comes from CNN!'s website web in the Asian Business News section on March 4th. The article talks about the South Korean federal government investigation into six of the nation!'s biggest chaebol or conglomerates. Summary South Korea has said it will investigate the business practices of Samsung and five other big groups, extending a crackdown on the country!'s family-run conglomerates. The Fair Trade Commission will investigate Samsung Group, LG Group, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Group and Hyundai Heavy Industries over the next three months. President Roh, Moo-hyun has said that without reform, the huge companies could start another financial crisis. Business practices such as mutual debt guarantees within conglomerates were blamed for the last crisis in 1997 and 1998.

The latest investigation comes after the head of top oil refiner SK Corp. was arrested on charges of illegal stock deals last month. Analysts have warned that a big crackdown on business groups could cause an even more fragile business climate. The stock market fell more than 2% on Tuesday, pressured by the news of the investigation and concerns over the nuclear crisis in North Korea and a possible war in Iraq. The companies all said they would willingly cooperate.

One commission official said that it had handed out a combined 210 billion won ($178 million) in fines on five conglomerates since 1998 over illegal intra-group transactions. South Korean conglomerates dominate the economy, Asia!'s fourth largest. Roh has promised to take a tough stance against the chaebol and has been under scrutiny over how he deals with big business. Opinion In my opinion, I feel that this investigation into the practices of the chaebol is long overdue.

During the financial crisis of 1997 and 1998, many of the chaebol began to reform but in the last couple of years it seems as if the chaebol leaders are returning to their old habits. I remember reading in the paper a couple of years ago that many of the chaebol had started their reforms but hadn! t completed them. The report quoted many international as well as Korean economists saying that if the chaebol didn! t fully reform, another financial crisis would occur. It seems to me that the chaebol have only a job half-done. They complain that the government is interfering but they are unwilling to fully reform themselves. It!'s kind of like a child complaining to a parent that their room is clean when the parent really knows that all of the dirt has only been pushed under the bed.

The chaebol need to! (R) get under their bed! and really clean up their rooms. It may take a little longer to do, but their business environment and the country!'s economy will be much cleaner and stronger for taking the extra effort. Somehow I don! t quite believe that the chaebol will!

(R) willingly participate! in the investigation. I have a feeling that the chaebol will be kicking and screaming the whole time. President Roh is taking a big risk in starting this investigation. Firstly, it is commonly known that many of the top politicians are very! (R) friendly! with the chaebol leaders. This may lead to problems later when President Roh needs their support for other government issues.

These politicians may push President Roh into the position of being an outsider. Secondly, with the country already undergoing economic difficulties, it may cause the nation!'s economy to further decline. I hope that President Roh continues with this investigation but does so very carefully and in a transparent manner. Too often like the chaebol, the government starts out with good intentions but fails to finish the job that they started to do. My fear is that the only people to truly be hurt in this are the common people as I think that the politicians and the chaebol owners have little to worry about job security. Thank you for listening.

Now, if anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them.