Chaebols - South Korea Ruling Families

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My oh my, what did I stumble across today. All of a sudden, the bizarre events in South Korea recently start to make sense. Did anyone notice this news story?

South Korea’s president declares emergency martial law

Parliament voted later in the evening requiring President Yoon to lift the martial law he declared earlier.

www.aljazeera.com

Did it seem odd and bizarre? Like, what in the hell is happening in South Korea? And then, did the story just kind of disappear without so much as some sort of reason as to what was driving this to begin with?

So, it actually turns out being a president in South Korea doesn't tend to end well for the person in question.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.business-standard.com/amp/world-news/south-korea-s-presidential-history-martial-law-coups-and-corruption-124120400352_1.html

South Korea, often seen as a beacon of capitalist growth and technological advancement, has a chequered history of presidential leadership. Nearly all its presidents have faced impeachment, been overthrown, assassinated, or jailed for corruption.

But why? S.Korea doesn't stand out to me as a tinpot country full of corruption and the like..

Well, well, well, I bet the answer is in one way or another, as with all the major stories taking place in South Korea, tied back to the Chaebols and some backroom dealings.

Chaebols are a large, family-controlled business conglomerate in South Korea. The biggest corporations in South Korea are all family owned.

The leading 5 according to statista are: Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor Company, LG, and POSCO.

South Korea: market concentration of the biggest chaebols 2024 | Statista

In South Korea, the five leading conglomerates, known as chaebols, accounted for over 50 percent of the total revenue of 82 major business groups.

www.statista.com

The top 4 of these account for 40% of the GDP of the whole country.

Korea's top 4 conglomerates take up 40% of GDP in 2023

Korea's top four conglomerates accounted for more than 40 percent of the country's annual gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, data showed Wednesday.

www.koreatimes.co.kr

Samsung itself accounts for 20% of S.Koreas GDP and is projected to account for more.

Samsung will account for half of South Korea’s economic growth

SAMSUNG Electronics is poised to account for about half of South Korea’s economic growth this year, making its biggest contribution on record, Bloomberg Economics said. Read more at The Business Times.

www.businesstimes.com.sg

To put things into context, the government spending as a proportion of GDP in South Korea averages at about 20% though this increased to high 30%s in 2020

South Korea Government Spending To GDP

Government spending in South Korea was last recorded at 37.8 percent of GDP in 2021 . This page provides - South Korea Government Spending To Gdp- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

tradingeconomics.com

The bottom line is that as a collective, the Chaebols wield more power than the actual government and have unparalleled ability to corrupt government officials, including presidents.

So, do these rich families behave well?

Check out this story from a few years ago:

This one involved nuts being served in a bag as opposed to a plate and took place on a Korean airlines flight from JFK in 2014. Below is the relevant section:

https://simpleflying.com/korean-air-nutgate-story/

When Heather Cho received her nuts still in the bag and not on a plate, she tore into the flight attendant and demanded to see Park Chang-jin, the cabin crew chief. Cho told the cabin crew boss that he needed to kneel before her and beg forgiveness. She reportedly smacked him several times on the knuckles with a digital tablet before telling him he was fired. She then demanded that the plane taxi back to the gate so that Park could get off the plane, delaying the flight by 20 minutes.

Well, Heather Cho is part of these so-called families.

Maybe an isolated case you say? Not too fast:

S Korea ex-leader Park and Samsung heir Lee face bribery retrials

The Supreme Court also orders a retrial for Samsung's Lee Jae-yong for bribery in the same scandal.

www.bbc.co.uk

Above is a story of the heir of the Samsung empire doing some dirty dealings with a previous president. The president was impeached and the heir sent to prison. How long did the prison sentence last?

Lee Jae-yong: Why South Korea just pardoned the Samsung 'prince'

Lee Jae-yong, who was convicted for bribery and embezzlement, has been granted a presidential pardon.

www.google.com

is all I have to say.

In fact, if you look into it, these Rich families get into lots of legal problems and lead to many governments in Korea collapsing but the one thing that remains true is that they basically walk away from any consequences really.

So yes, who knew, South Korea appears to be some mafia led country when you look behind the fancy brand names of these Chaebols.

I'd highly recommend these documentaries for a flavour of the situation:

So, ask yourself, if you own a Samsung, knowing all the above, what is the likelihood that the family cut a deal with alphabet agencies to stick backdoors to basically spy on anyone with the phone anywhere in the world? I will never look at a Samsung device the same way again.

It's not like any of these leaders are erhmm, of good standing character.

 

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This is actually well done and hits all the right points in like 10 mins:

 

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Well, this is a pattern that others in the country try to immulate and suffer for it, known as the 'Korean discount' in the stock market.
It was a rather 'fishy' issue when it happened, and made me wonder about the Dems party leader's look of 'fun' when going around the back gate to get in for the vote to end the quickly announced 'martial law'... seemed a little odd, no? Especially given his party's role in the setup. Yes, they all live in Seoul most likely, and could assemble quickly, but it seemed so planned methinks. That said, it's very much like South Korean politics and standard business for the country... very chaebolic as well, as every country has it's tendencies and customs that go back a long time, thus their histories.

 

[meadow_wind]

My oh my, what did I stumble across today. All of a sudden, the bizarre events in South Korea recently start to make sense. Did anyone notice this news story?

I haven't been following much the news lately. I stumbled on this yesterday and I was wondering what was going on, so thanks for posting! I often don't have time to double-check NN for accuracy, so I just skip most of their content, except for the stuff I think is important. Here's their summary of the events:

South Korea impeaches second leader in a month as political crisis deepens – NaturalNews.com

South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo was impeached, deepening political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s suspension. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is now interim leader amid economic instability and a constitutional crisis. Yoon’s impeachment trial began, with the Constitutional...

www.naturalnews.com

• South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo was impeached, deepening political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s suspension.
• Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is now interim leader amid economic instability and a constitutional crisis.
• Yoon’s impeachment trial began, with the Constitutional Court deciding his fate within 180 days.
• Economic fallout includes the won hitting its lowest level since 2009, raising fears of a financial crisis. Analysts warn that the ongoing turmoil could lead to economic troubles reminiscent of the devastating financial crisis of the late 1990s.
• An arrest warrant was issued for Yoon over allegations of rebellion tied to his martial law decree.
• The events of the past month have plunged South Korea into its gravest political crisis since 1987

 

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I haven't been following much the news lately. I stumbled on this yesterday and I was wondering what was going on, so thanks for posting! I often don't have time to double-check NN for accuracy, so I just skip most of their content, except for the stuff I think is important. Here's their summary of the events:

South Korea impeaches second leader in a month as political crisis deepens – NaturalNews.com

South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo was impeached, deepening political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s suspension. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is now interim leader amid economic instability and a constitutional crisis. Yoon’s impeachment trial began, with the Constitutional...

www.naturalnews.com

• South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo was impeached, deepening political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s suspension.
• Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is now interim leader amid economic instability and a constitutional crisis.
• Yoon’s impeachment trial began, with the Constitutional Court deciding his fate within 180 days.
• Economic fallout includes the won hitting its lowest level since 2009, raising fears of a financial crisis. Analysts warn that the ongoing turmoil could lead to economic troubles reminiscent of the devastating financial crisis of the late 1990s.
• An arrest warrant was issued for Yoon over allegations of rebellion tied to his martial law decree.
• The events of the past month have plunged South Korea into its gravest political crisis since 1987

So from what I understand this pattern goes something like this. He'll be impeached, probably end up on trial and get some lengthy jail sentence (say 10 years if not more), he'll serve like 3 months and then will receive a presidential pardon from the next president. Rinse and repeat with the next president.

Skip the first 10 mins and listen from when she talks about work and social life in Korea. Man, the place sounds like a CERTIFIED dystopia.