Business
Korean Giants Are Under the Microscope Again, Now for Their Giving
South Korea is about to start auditing the charitable arms of Samsung, Hyundai, and the nation’s other powerful conglomerates. Their nightmare: Kim Sang-jo, the “chaebol sniper.”
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A tumultuous year for Samsung Group and other conglomerates threatens to get worse as South Korea’s competition authority, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, probes whether their founding families use the cloak of charity to maintain power without having to pay billions of dollars in taxes.
When the new conglomerates bureau of the commission starts operating in December, its first order of business will be auditing the family foundations of the country’s biggest conglomerates, or chaebol. “If foundations are found to be abusing the purpose of their establishment, we will consider ways to regulate them,” says Kim Sang-jo, the commission chairman.