South Korea’s Powerful Family Business Ties Could Be Tough to Cut
Mr. Lee, who also goes by the name Jay Y. Lee, is a member of the third generation of a family
that controls a business empire that makes its famous mobile phones, builds the world’s tallest skyscrapers — an affiliate constructed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai — operates hospitals, hotels and theme parks, and even offers credit cards.
Kim Woochan said that Chaebol family control as we know it could end with this generation,
With South Korea’s biggest business empire, Samsung, caught up in a nationwide political
scandal, a new generation of South Korean leaders has vowed to rip up that playbook.
Major candidates in Tuesday’s election for president have said they will clamp down on South Korea’s family-controlled
business empires, called chaebol, which dominate the country’s economy and have amassed immense political power.
Mr. Lee’s father, Lee Kun-hee, was ultimately convicted of breach of trust in connection with the deals — though he was later pardoned,
and the younger Mr. Lee was allowed to keep his shares.
One such charity, the Samsung Foundation of Culture, is one of the biggest shareholders in Samsung
Electronics, the jewel of the Samsung empire, holding a stake of close to 8 percent.
