War on Family Property Rights: Rethinking Governance Reforms for the South Korean Chaebol

As of 2020 South Korea has 14 firms listed on the global Fortune 500, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK, POSCO and LG. The country along with Japan is also one of the only two countries in Asia that are members of the OECD and its Development Assistance Committee (DAC) simultaneously. Furthermore, Korea boasts of its membership in the seven-country 50-30 Club (countries with a population of more than 50 million and a GDP of $30,000 per capita). However, unlike its official status as one of the most developed economies in the world, it still suffers from the backward struggle between the state and the family firms over the issue of property rights and family successions. The corporate governance issue has damaged the reputation of Korean chaebols (family conglomerates) for many decades as founders, and their families had been imprisoned and/or fined for violating inheritance tax laws and related laws associated with the issue of protecting their family ties. The democratically elected governments in Korea since 1987 have tried to reform the chaebol governance structures to ease asset concentration by family members, although many of those have failed due to corruptive practices between the state and the chaebol. This book spells out the current governance problems within the chaebol, state reform policies and both success and failures of the reforms. It was originally published as a special issue of the Asia Pacific Business Review.

Ingyu Oh is Professor of Business and Cultural Industries at Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan. His main teaching and research interests include organizational studies, innovation, international business, political economy, political sociology, business history and cultural studies. He has published numerous books, monographs and journal articles over the last 25+ years. He is Associate Editor of Asia Pacific Business Review.

Chris Rowley is Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College at the University of Oxford, UK, and Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Education at Tohoku University, Japan, and at the University of Business and International Studies, Switzerland. He is Professor Emeritus at Bayes Business School at the City, University of London, UK. He has over 30 years’ experience in university systems in the UK, Europe, and Asia and has won several international grants. He is the Editor of the important SCI-rated journal Asia Pacific Business Review and has published over 700 articles, books, chapters and practitioner pieces. He regularly provides interviews, expert comments and opinion pieces to the international media, including news services, TV, radio and practitioner outlets.

Yong Wook Jun is Invited Professor at Business School at Seoul National University, South Korea. He is Academician, Businessman and Consultant, having worked for universities, business corporations and consulting firms in the past 40 years. He was Dean of Global Learning Institute at Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea. Prior to this, he was Vice President of Sejong University, Vice President of Woosong University and Dean of SolBridge International School of Business. Professor Jun has served as Non-Executive Director, Counsellor and Consultant for many major Korean corporations including Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motors and SK Telecom. His capabilities are balanced in both practice and academia. He has also published numerous articles and textbooks in the field of International Business.