Chaebols are South Korean form of family-run business conglomerates. The word chaebol translates into ‘wealth clan’ or ‘money faction’ where chae means ‘wealth or property’. Bol on the other hand means ‘faction or clan’. In South Korea, chaebols are not only considered as companies, but are also dynasties.
For one to be considered a true chaebol, a conglomerate must be family owned and have businesses in at least two different areas. For example: Samsung electronics manufactures television sets and smartphones and it also has subsidiaries that run a luxury hotel, sell life insurance and build crude oil tankers. These chaebols are like business empires. The CEO’s of these chaebols are considered as celebrities in South Korea since it is said they helped South Korea when they were plunging in to poverty after the Korean War (Chandran).
Chaebol is comprised of many companies with strong internal transactions, which are all controlled by the chairperson who acts as the manager and the owner of the enterprise. Important managerial posts are mostly given to relatives of the manager, who is also the chairperson. Chaebols act as monopolies since they are the only ones selling a certain type of product or offering a certain type of service in the market. There are people who blame the Chaebol for widening the wealth gap by squeezing suppliers too hard.
The chaebols have done more good than harm to their country since they help raise the country’s GDP when it is on the downside. The negatives are few but still affect the citizens of South Korea. The way I see it, they did a good job in assisting the government at its time of need.
Works Cited
Chandran, Nyshka. Vicious South Korean family feud exposes chaebol peril. 5 August 2015. Web. 11 May 2016 <http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/05/lotte-family-feud-exposes-chaebol-peril.html>.
