Is President Lee Too Hyundai-Friendly?

By Kim Tae-gyu

Staff Reporter

Parents tend to say that they love all of their children alike despite their differences. But many are often accused of loving one child more than the others, leading to a sibling rivalry for parental affection.

Then, what should be said about President Lee Myung-bak's motto of being business-friendly, which is supposed to mean that he will treat all of the local conglomerates alike. Yet, he seemingly continues to show preference to some over others.

Observers say that Lee's preference is well illustrated in his treatment of Samsung Group, the country's top conglomerate, by any measure, compared to his more frequent visits to the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, the No. 2 player.

Since Lee took office in February 2008, he has visited Hyundai factories five times over the two-year period, both at home and abroad. By contrast, the businessman-turned-politician has stopped at those of Samsung only once.

In March 2008, just weeks after his inauguration, Lee paid a visit to the factories of Kia Motors, one of the major subsidiaries of Hyundai Automotive, located in Gwangju at the southwest part of the peninsula.

Two months later, the 68-year-old head of state went to the Hyundai Motor production lines situated in Beijing and early this year to the ones in Chennai, India.

Last October, he held an emergency meeting to discuss boosting the electricity car business at Hyundai's research center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province.

Late last week, he was present at the opening ceremony of Hyundai Steel's blast furnaces set up in Dangjin, Chungcheong Province ― the mega project planned by the group over the past few decades.

By contrast, Lee has only visited a Samsung cell phone manufacturer in Vietnam, in October 2009. This is not much different to how he has behaved toward the other iconic groups here such as SK and LG. Lee has visited the factories of SK Energy, an SK affiliate, just once, when he went to Ulsan in 2008. He has never visited the facilities of LG.

This prompts some observers to argue that Lee, who was formerly head of Hyundai Construction and Engineering, prefers Hyundai over the others. Hyundai Construction was founded by late former Chairman Chung Ju-young and Hyundai Automotive is run by his second son Chung Mong-koo.

``I don't know whether or not the President really prefers Hyundai to the other groups, including Samsung. But his past activities cause some to scratch their heads since it is true that he once led a Hyundai company,'' a Seoul analyst said.

``Some contend President Lee is not business-friendly but is Hyundai friendly. In other words, they are curious why President Lee is in a love affair with only Hyundai although other groups also flirt with him.''

The whining about President Lee's affection for Hyundai peaked midway through last year. But the President silenced such critics once and for all by offering a big gift to Samsung during the waning days of 2009 ― a special pardon of its former head Lee Kun-hee.

Lee retired in early 2008 from the chairmanship of Samsung after a special prosecutor's probe.

In this climate, President Lee visited Samsung's Vietnam factories last October, two months after the tycoon was convicted. Late last December, he granted a special pardon less than five months after the verdict.

The Lee administration said back then that the pardon was granted so that Lee could support PyeongChang's third bid for hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics as he has a seat on the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Samsung officials say that Lee is already engaged in promoting PyeongChang's bid, as his recent visit to Europe was closely connected with it.