ABSTRACT
The mandarins in the Blue House wanted to tear Chung apart — preferably without jeopardizing the economy by ruining Hyundai. The job was complicated, however, by the nature of ownership of Korean chaebol. There was no corporate owner of the conglomerate, as in the United States or Europe. Nor was there linkage beyond cross-ownership of stocks among family members and companies bound together in a single chaebol. In the case of Hyundai, there was only Chung and his relatives. In the absence of a central company, the Mother Company, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, as well as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Motor, played roles unparalleled in the West. The authorities could break up Hyundai on paper, but they could not tear apart the blood ties that really held it together.
