Disclosing executive pay

Many Koreans know Apple CEO Tim Cook’s annual

income

reached 434 billion won ($378 million) in 2011. But few know how much his Korean counterpart, Lee Kun-hee - Lee’s official title used to be the chairman of Samsung Electronics - receives a year.

And the yearly emolument of Lee, probably the richest man in Korea, will likely remain in the dark for some time unless

loopholes

are plugged in ongoing legislation.

The proposed law, a rare bipartisan push by the National Assembly as part of its “economic democratization” efforts, calls for disclosing the pay of senior executives who earn 500 million won or more a year. But the new act limits its targets to only “registered” executives, letting unregistered managers, who account for a quarter of the total and include the Samsung Group’s owner and his son and heir-apparent, slip through.

This is simply not fair. If the law is allowed to stand as it is now, other tycoons and senior executives could deregister themselves in part to keep their pay secret and to avoid responsibility when problems arise.

In the United States, companies must reveal the pay of five executives, including the three highest earners, registered or not. Japan also makes it

mandatory

to disclose the salaries of all senior managers taking home 100 million yen or more, along with minute details. Switzerland is going even further with some legislators moving to cap executives’ pay to 12 times the median income of their employees.

In a capitalist society, making public executives’ income public should be something to feel proud about, rather than hushing it up; an opportunity to demonstrate star managers and their contributions to their firms and the rest of the community. This is of course on condition that there are no boardroom excesses or undue corporate generosity, and of course no downright irregularities.

Chairman Lee once said, “One genius feeds 10,000 people.” The clearer and more detailed top managers’ income sheets are, the more positive the public will become in appreciating their contribution to society.

Corporate people worry about the unusually jealous trait among Koreans and labor-management troubles

stem

ming

from

full disclosure. They are underestimating Koreans who have made their country a top capitalist society in just a generation.

President Park Geun-hye should instruct officials to toughen the act in making enforcement

decrees

.

This is The Korea Times editorial for Saturday, April 13, 2013.

※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 사설에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제입니다.

※ Choose the number that has the same meaning as the underlined word.

1. The present

ordinance

shall come into force from the day of its promulgation.

① authoritative decree

② act of being true

③ weapons of war

④ neatness

2. His illness

stems from

a traffic accident.

① comes from

② results in

③ runs for

④ stands for

⑤ suffers from

3. A number of

still remain in the campaign contribution law.

① unprofitable sections

② logical arguments

③ ways of evading rules

④ descriptions for cheating

4. She felt it

incumbent

upon her to answer the letter immediately.

① derogatory

② insufficient

③ indispensable

④ obligatory

5. Labor saving machinery will bring more

revenue

to the farmer.

① income

② taxes

③ produce

④ leisure

[해설 및 정답]

1. [번역] 현재의

법령

은 공포한 날로부터 이를 시행한다.

[정답] ①

2. [번역] 그의 병은 교통사고에서

생겨난 것이다

3. [번역] 그 선거운동 기부법에는 많은

허점들

이 여전히 남아 있다.

[어휘] loophole : 틈새기, 구멍, (법률, 규칙 등의) 허점, 맹점(way of evading rules, way out)

[정답] ③

4. [번역] 그녀는 그 편지에 답을 즉시 해 주는 것이

의무적인

것이라고 생각했다.

[어휘] incumbent : a. 의무로서 지워지는(imposed as a duty), 의무적인(obligatory, mandatory); 현직의, 재직의 n. 현직자, 재직자(holder of an office)

[정답] ④

5. [번역] 노동 절약 기계는 그 농부에게 보다 많은

수입

을 안겨줄 것이다.