FTC chief apologizes over remark that chaebol are 'exploiting' Korea

Korea's antitrust watchdog chief Ju Biung-ghi apologized Wednesday for the controversy over his remark that chaebol are “exploiting” Korea. 

Chaebol are family-controlled conglomerates, such as Samsung, Hyundai and SK, whose affiliates span industries from semiconductors and cars to retail and finance.

“I am not denying the role of large companies in Korea’s economic growth and development," Ju, head of the Fair Trade Commission, said during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly. “The point was that for large companies to build global competitiveness and keep growing, the opaque governance structures within large business groups and the side effects of concentrated economic power need to be improved.”

During the commission’s earlier audit on Oct. 12, Rep. Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party (PPP) read out a statement Ju had made as a professor: “Chaebol are exploiting Korea. The main force creating an exploitative Korea is the hereditary economy of chaebol and large business groups.”

Asked whether he still held that view, Ju replied, “My expression may have been excessive in some respects, but I still think so.”

In a December 2024 newspaper column written while he was a professor at Seoul National University, Ju also wrote, “The first enemy of an inclusive society that creates an exploitative Korea is the hereditary economy of chaebol and large business groups.”

When Choi criticized his views as anti-business and anti-market at the Oct. 12 audit, Ju said, “That is not true at all,” and criticized the decision-making structure of Korean companies. “Managers must make pioneering decisions with expertise and conviction, but how many Korean companies can do that?” he said.

On Oct. 13, a day after the audit, PPP lawmakers held a press conference calling for Ju to resign. “It cannot be seen that a person with a distorted view of companies can carry out his duties as chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, which is meant to establish a fair market economic order,” said Jeong Jeom-sig, the party’s floor leader.

On Wednesday, Ju said he had read all the criticism opposition lawmakers raised at the press conference and was “taking it seriously.”

He also addressed his earlier, contested description of local conglomerates as “public companies,” saying the term was meant to stress shareholder rights and corporate social responsibility. “I ask for broad understanding that calling companies owned by many individuals public companies was also meant to emphasize the rights of many shareholders and companies’ social responsibility,” he said.

“As committee members have stressed, I will always keep in mind that the Fair Trade Commission’s role in a market economy is to support companies so they can freely conduct business while complying with fair competition in the market,” Ju added.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]