The Issue of Chaebols

Facts:

- The top 10 chaebol make up more than half the value of of the 1,779 companies on the Korea Stock Exchange.

- Cross-holdings of subsidiaries make ownership structures opaque.

Case against unwinding them:
- "To outsiders, it may seem like the economy is doing relatively well, but here are people stuck in the cracks of society where chaebol wealth was supposed to trickle down" -Kim Woo Chan, a prof. at Korea University Business School

- The chairman of Hanhwa group killed a man in 2008 by striking him with a steel pipe and received a pardon. Accusations of embezzlement are made against some chaebol owners.

Chaebols' defense:
- Limiting or banning cross-shareholdings would make them vulnerable to foreign takeovers,