These are two columns premiered online. The full versions are available online at the addresses mentioned at the end. ― E.D.
By Oh Young-jin
Korea is at war with Samsung Group with a ferocity that sometimes shows as if it won't be over until one of the two is done away with.
The irony is that Samsung is the lifeline of Korea Inc., being the biggest employer, exporter, taxpayer, charity giver and the single largest pillar to support the stock market, possibly all at once.
If it were the firm of another country, it would be treated like a goose laying a golden egg. By extension of this logic, are Koreans getting greedy enough to kill the goose and get all the gold inside immediately?
From Samsung's perspective, it is only natural to ask why it is the victim of its own success.
Instead of answering these questions, let's look at three battles the nation and its biggest corporation are fighting, because we pretty much know the stock answers to these questions ― historic collusion between the state and Samsung and other chaebol, and the people's sense of ownership to chaebol on the belief that the corporate behemoths have grown on the sweat, blood and tears of taxpayers.
Also in the mix is the public's resentment toward the misconduct of chaebol owners and their offspring. Lump them together and it is a love-hate relationship with these moneyed families.
But the ongoing war against Samsung could be different from the entanglements the nation has had before with chaebol ― not business as usual.
The first prong of the war is over the financial authorities' investigation into 27 borrowed-name accounts that belong to the ailing head of the conglomerate, Lee Kun-hee, at four brokerages.
Lee was believed to have inherited the money in the accounts from his father Lee Byung-chull, before real name notification was made mandatory in financial transactions in December 1993. He should have reported it and paid taxes.
The probe came after police named Lee as a suspect in a tax evasion case, accusing him of managing 400 billion won in 260 accounts held by executives at Samsung.
It's often the unwritten rule that when a person involved in a serious case dies or is rendered incapacitated, it gets closed. This rule doesn't apply to Lee, who has been in coma since he had a heart attack in 2014.
Then, there is another front regarding alleged payoffs made to former President Lee Myung-bak for his lawyers' fees to the tune of billions of won in a legal entanglement.
Polympics
Different from the case of NBC, the U.S. main Olympic broadcaster which mistook the host city, PyeongChang, as being in North Korea, there is a conspicuous reason that the quadrennial event in the South Korean city is not what is expected of a typical Olympics.
It deserves to be called "Polympics" with a capital P standing for politics of a complicated brand ― with fierce, divisive, unifying and confusing elements ― which may reset the existing order on the Korean Peninsula and affect the global one, as well.
The fierce element was made in plain sight when South Korea put all it had on the line and persuaded the United States and by extension Japan to delay the annual ROK-U.S. military drills that would have occurred during the Olympics. U.S. President Donald Trump reluctantly conceded to the combination of pleas and threats by President Moon Jae-in to delay the drills until after the PyeongChang Games.
Of course, there was little difference between pleas and threats, which boiled down to the fact that if the North was cajoled and given no piece of the action, it would play its game, spoil the Games and let the tension spiral out of control.
Then, there were the sacrifices expected from the South Korean female ice hockey players as the result of the formation of a joint team ― in terms of playing time and slots on the roster.
Now, the divisiveness is evident ― between Seoul and Washington. Trump tried to look magnanimous and gracious by pretending that he had accepted Moon's plea to allow inter-Korean contact. But it was not hard to imagine how bruised his ego was ― the leader of the world's supposedly most powerful country being swayed by leaders of the two Koreas.
The Pence disaster added insult to injury.
He was late for the pre-Olympic opening reception and avoided an encounter with the North Korean delegation ― Kim Yo-jong, the sister of its dictator Kim Jong-un, and ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam. The White House's explanation that Pence's tardiness was accidental wouldn't be given much credence since the U.S. vice president showed his dislike for the North Koreans in advance.
Even some American expats complained about the lack of grace in Pence's behavior.
The other side of the Pence brouhaha shows the unifying side of the Games. They say that he was ungentlemanly.
The nation was taken by surprise by Pyongyang's dispatch of its leader's younger sister to the opening ceremony. Even the most vocal critics of the North were silenced by Moon's call to treat the "valued visitors" with respect and warmth.
The first column is entitled "Korea at war with Samsung" and available at http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2018/02/113―244445.html, while the second, entitled "It's not Olympics but Polympics," available at http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2018/02/113―244046.html. You may direct inquiries and comments to foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
By Oh Young-jin
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The irony is that Samsung is the lifeline of Korea Inc., being the biggest employer, exporter, taxpayer, charity giver and the single largest pillar to support the stock market, possibly all at once.
If it were the firm of another country, it would be treated like a goose laying a golden egg. By extension of this logic, are Koreans getting greedy enough to kill the goose and get all the gold inside immediately?
From Samsung's perspective, it is only natural to ask why it is the victim of its own success.
Instead of answering these questions, let's look at three battles the nation and its biggest corporation are fighting, because we pretty much know the stock answers to these questions ― historic collusion between the state and Samsung and other chaebol, and the people's sense of ownership to chaebol on the belief that the corporate behemoths have grown on the sweat, blood and tears of taxpayers.
Also in the mix is the public's resentment toward the misconduct of chaebol owners and their offspring. Lump them together and it is a love-hate relationship with these moneyed families.
But the ongoing war against Samsung could be different from the entanglements the nation has had before with chaebol ― not business as usual.
The first prong of the war is over the financial authorities' investigation into 27 borrowed-name accounts that belong to the ailing head of the conglomerate, Lee Kun-hee, at four brokerages.
Lee was believed to have inherited the money in the accounts from his father Lee Byung-chull, before real name notification was made mandatory in financial transactions in December 1993. He should have reported it and paid taxes.
The probe came after police named Lee as a suspect in a tax evasion case, accusing him of managing 400 billion won in 260 accounts held by executives at Samsung.
It's often the unwritten rule that when a person involved in a serious case dies or is rendered incapacitated, it gets closed. This rule doesn't apply to Lee, who has been in coma since he had a heart attack in 2014.
Then, there is another front regarding alleged payoffs made to former President Lee Myung-bak for his lawyers' fees to the tune of billions of won in a legal entanglement.
Polympics
Different from the case of NBC, the U.S. main Olympic broadcaster which mistook the host city, PyeongChang, as being in North Korea, there is a conspicuous reason that the quadrennial event in the South Korean city is not what is expected of a typical Olympics.
It deserves to be called "Polympics" with a capital P standing for politics of a complicated brand ― with fierce, divisive, unifying and confusing elements ― which may reset the existing order on the Korean Peninsula and affect the global one, as well.
The fierce element was made in plain sight when South Korea put all it had on the line and persuaded the United States and by extension Japan to delay the annual ROK-U.S. military drills that would have occurred during the Olympics. U.S. President Donald Trump reluctantly conceded to the combination of pleas and threats by President Moon Jae-in to delay the drills until after the PyeongChang Games.
Of course, there was little difference between pleas and threats, which boiled down to the fact that if the North was cajoled and given no piece of the action, it would play its game, spoil the Games and let the tension spiral out of control.
Then, there were the sacrifices expected from the South Korean female ice hockey players as the result of the formation of a joint team ― in terms of playing time and slots on the roster.
Now, the divisiveness is evident ― between Seoul and Washington. Trump tried to look magnanimous and gracious by pretending that he had accepted Moon's plea to allow inter-Korean contact. But it was not hard to imagine how bruised his ego was ― the leader of the world's supposedly most powerful country being swayed by leaders of the two Koreas.
The Pence disaster added insult to injury.
He was late for the pre-Olympic opening reception and avoided an encounter with the North Korean delegation ― Kim Yo-jong, the sister of its dictator Kim Jong-un, and ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam. The White House's explanation that Pence's tardiness was accidental wouldn't be given much credence since the U.S. vice president showed his dislike for the North Koreans in advance.
Even some American expats complained about the lack of grace in Pence's behavior.
The other side of the Pence brouhaha shows the unifying side of the Games. They say that he was ungentlemanly.
The nation was taken by surprise by Pyongyang's dispatch of its leader's younger sister to the opening ceremony. Even the most vocal critics of the North were silenced by Moon's call to treat the "valued visitors" with respect and warmth.
The first column is entitled "Korea at war with Samsung" and available at http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2018/02/113―244445.html, while the second, entitled "It's not Olympics but Polympics," available at http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2018/02/113―244046.html. You may direct inquiries and comments to foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
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