Word: chaebols
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Just as quickly he will need to shed the candidate's instinct to please everyone as often as possible. "It doesn't matter who makes what promises to get votes," said an executive at one of Korea's largest conglomerates, or chaebol, "because their policies will be bounded by IMF guidelines." Within those limits, though, Kim's background does give reason for hope. His strong labor credentials could help keep workers off the streets when the layoffs begin. And as IMF reforms dissolve the cozy networks that have wed politicians and chaebol executives, the longtime outsider will finally have...
...worst-case scenario of what could happen in Japan. Both economies are dominated by an unholy trinity of old-school politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists, whose "crony capitalism" has loaded up their respective countries with untenable debt. The crunch came in Korea when a wave of bankruptcies by conglomerates, or chaebol, crashed down on the country's banks, flooding them with write-offs for bad loans. Defaults of a comparable magnitude in Japan's $4.2 trillion economy, which is nearly 10 times the size of Korea's, could turn the so-called Asian Contagion into a worldwide pandemic that could even...
...what happened to Asia's two key economies? Korea's rise was until recently the stuff of legend. Like Japan, Korea prospered from the cooperation among its banks, politicians and large conglomerates, known as chaebol. Politicians picked industries to support; business leaders duly invested in them; and banks put up the money...
...growth slowed and Seoul opened its economy to foreign competition, the fat profit margins of Korean companies suddenly became anorexic. Manufacturers like carmaker Kia Motors and steelcaster Hanbo have collapsed. Yet the chaebol kept begging for money, and their bankers kept obliging. Result: loans to Korean companies have reached an amount equal to 165% of Korea's GDP, and rumors abound that the country may seek an International Monetary Fund rescue. Seoul, however, denies...
Inside a packed Seoul courtroom, former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo took the stand Monday to answer charges that he accepted $369 million in kickbacks from businesses while in office. Roh admitted that he took money from chaebol, the group of 40 or so huge industrial conglomerates that dominate South Korea's economy, but said that he did not sell his influence to private interests. Roh said he received $32 million from Samsung, the nation's biggest conglomerate, but maintained he could not remember who gave him all the money he received while in office. The trial is expected...