New Year Sees Lotte, SK Up and Hanwha Down
By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter
A leader often determines the fate of a company, proven time and again in Korea and western countries. A look at what happened to AIG and Lehman Brothers speaks volumes.
With this mind, it is worthwhile for Korea investors to see how chaebol leaders are faring this New Year.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won appears to be outrunning leaders of other conglomerates. A second-generation chaebol leader, Chey is exuding youth-backed confidence in stark contrast to leaders of other top chaebol companies such as Samsung, GS and Hanwha.
Chey appeared in an in-house broadcast and revealed to his employees what he thinks about the current economic crisis under the theme ``A 2009 Reality Check.''
According to company officials, he prepared his presentation alone with newspaper headlines. The presentation included about 10 slides.
His message was simple: Nobody is too big to fail.
``It is not a crisis according to the meaning of the word, so often used to describe a difficult patch of time. This is a time when survival is at stake,'' he was quoted as saying.
He said that the outside assessment that SK is relatively safe shouldn't be taken at face value because, ``If we don't get prepared, we may have no tomorrow.''
By many indications, Chey looks more CEO-like. It started with a major reshuffle late last year.
After bringing in a generational change to his lieutenants on the basis of performance, he consolidated his reign, rather in contrast to the man who had to serve a jail term and relied on his father's subordinates.
Meanwhile, Hanhwa leader Kim Seung-youn is a letdown.
In his New Year's message, Kim, who received a suspended sentence and fine for beating up bar staff involved in a confrontation with his son, vowed to go ahead with aggressive marketing and management, obviously referring to his bid to take over Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
The deal is stuck and Hanwha stocks are tanking because the conglomerate is having a difficult time raising funds. A senior Hanwha official told The Korea Times, ``Chairman Kim is upset.''
He said that prospective foreign investors have stopped talking to Hanhwa for some time now.
The official added, however, that Kim's absence during the chaebol leaders' New Year meeting with President Lee Myung-bak had nothing to do with the stalled Daewoo deal.
But to top it all off, Lotte Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho is flying high.
The octogenarian leader, who has built his business empire from a chewing gum manufacturer, is having the time of his life. His group is taking over Doosan Corp.'s liquor business and is getting the nod for an over 100-story high rise building on a prime piece of land in Kangnam, southern Seoul.
The high-rise deal had been stalled for 14 years but President Lee vowed to see to it that it would get going during the initial stage of his administration. Industry watchers say that Lotte is trying to keep its face straight without showing its mirth for fear of inviting suspicion that it is too close to Lee.