South Koreans are probably experiencing a bout of deja vu as family rivalries wreak havoc at yet another "chaebol," the family-owned business groups that dominate their economy.
In the early 2000s, it was the Chungs of Hyundai feuding over their industrial empire. That scrap was settled only after Chung Ju Yung died in 2001 and the group he founded splintered into three parts, slamming the stock market and showing the world how far South Korea needed to go to join the ranks of developed economies. Fourteen years on, South Korea's economy is still dominated by chaebols. This time, it's the Shin brothers of Lotte, South Korea's eighth largest business conglomerate, earning headlines as they brawl to succeed their 92-year-old father Shin Kyuk-ho.
Since the 1997 Asian crisis, every South Korean president has pledged to retool the economy to prevent the kind of sibling battle now tearing up Lotte. Park Geun-hye, for example, was elected in December 2012 on promises to curb chaebol influence and diversify the economy. Park told voters she would unleash the "economic democratization" of South Korea, by empowering smaller companies, ending deals where corporate patriarchs steer business to relatives, taxing the $2 trillion of cash hoarded by South Korean executives and curbing cross-holdings to weaken the grip of controlling families.
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