Scapegoat of Politics

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong had to fall a victim to the former president Park Geun-hye’s conviction that can help with the new government’s legitimacy.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong had to fall a victim to the former president Park Geun-hye’s conviction that can help with the new government’s legitimacy.

 

La Tribune reported recently, “Lee Jae-Yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is a political scapegoat to make former President Park Geun-hye be found guilty. The France-based economic daily commented also that the South Korean government needs to protect the core pillars of the economic growth, saying that South Korea should overcome a temptation to disorganize the nation’s economic powerhouse business conglomerates, also known as chaebol, amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to North Korea’s nuclear threats.

On November 16 (local time), La Tribune pointed out the dangers of the chaebol decomposition theory through an editorial “Chaebol : Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater” written by economist Gabriel A. Giménez Roche. 

Citing the case that Lee was sentenced to five years in jail, the newspaper said, “Lee Jae-yong was declared guilty based on the judicial judgment of corruption after receiving a trial in where the government failed to present an objective evidence for corruption. Lee Jae-yong had to fall a victim to the former president Park Geun-hye’s conviction that can help with the new government’s legitimacy. Lee’s case is just a new episode for conflicts between South Korea’s bureaucracy and chaebol. 

La Tribune explained the historical background how South Korea’s chaebol became successful going through dictatorial regimes of Rhee Seung-man and Park Chung-hee after the Korean War and said, “Criticism that ‘large groups of stones are seldom captured’ is understandable but there are ways to prevent side effects while not pulling down chaebol and not losing the market share of chaebol in global trade.” It added, “The government should adopt financial reforms that can improve the transparency and reduce side effects caused by wrong taxation systems.”

La Tribune also stressed, “When simple taxation regulations are combined with more transparent accounting regulations, it can prevent chaebol from engaging in excessively notorious family management. Based on this, South Korea can protect the nation’s major companies and modernize management without damaging its position in global trade.” 

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