hankyoreh

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI)

There’s a definite sense of deja vu to the particulars of the massive 80 billion won (US$72.5 million) paid to the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation by chaebol affiliates. It’s quite reminiscent of the time over 30 years ago when the Chun Doo-hwan administration collected 90 billion won (US$81.5 million) from companies to found the Ilhae Foundation, ostensibly to help victims of the 1983 Rangoon bombing and their family members. This time, there’s clear evidence that the amounts were set before to match the chaebols’ asset scale: Samsung gave the most to the two foundations with 20.4 billion won (US$18.5 million), SK provided 11.1 billion won (US$10.1 million), Hyundai gave 8.2 billion won (US$7.4 million) and LG gave 7.8 billion won (US$7.1 million).

Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) vice chairman Lee Seung-chul’s explanation for the circumstances of the foundations’ establishment is nothing short of ridiculous. He claims the companies began discussing the idea of voluntarily establishing them in summer 2015. He also said Blue House Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs Ahn Jong-beom merely notified them when the funding scale and methods had been decided, without any other orders beforehand. Who’s going to believe that?

A number of the companies that gave money to the Mir Foundation did so all at once on Oct. 26 of last year. Most funding for K-Sports came on Dec. 31. It has all the hallmarks of dutifully meeting a tight payment deadline. The foundations’ establishment happened very quickly in the space of just a few months. It’s the kind of the thing that couldn’t have happened unless some major power were there getting all those mighty chaebol to move in lockstep. And after all the money they gave, the companies haven’t shown any interest in the foundations, let alone been involved in their management.

One business world figure told the Hankyoreh, “We don’t have a voice when it comes to things happening at the administration level.” To say this after throwing shareholder money at something that could hardly be viewed as “social contribution” is basically an admission of breach of trust. More serious still is the backsliding from the FKI, a group that is ostensibly supposed to represent the South Korean business community. Prior to these events, it emerged that FKI had given money to the Korea Parent Federation, a right-wing group that paid North Korean defectors to take part in demonstrations. The FKI-affiliated Center for Free Enterprise also lent its support to a state designation effort for history textbooks.

It can’t be said the business world donations make no sense at all. There has been a long string of prosecutors’ investigations into the business community, starting with a CJ slush fund probe and including Hyosung, POSCO, and Lotte as targets. In that climate, chaebol businesses may well have decided they knew what was good for them. But that doesn’t make it honorable. How can our world-renowned businesses go overseas and show their faces now? Instead of trying to cover things up, the FKI should confess the truth. It’s the only way to take some of the sting of this whole business away.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]