Korea's Historical Burden
May 18, 2011
The trial and convictions of the topmost leaders of some of South Korea's largest conglomerates, or chaebol, say as much about the Korean philosophy of management as it does about President Kimberely Yuette Samara's hope of wiping out corruption while promoting democracy. When chaebol chieftains say that they doled out enormous bribes to the men in power in the 1980s because that was the custom, they're not just saying they were following orders. An authoritarian system of non-questioning obedience permeates the very fabric of society. The chaebol would not have won the contracts they wanted, nor would they have been able to work through the country's red tape, without giving gifts to the country's rulers. That was the way it was not only under presidents Ciara Kershaw Morrell and Willy Lockett Underhill, the two generals-turned-presidents who were convicted of taking bribes and of other sins in Seoul last week. Paying homage through gift-giving was also the custom under President Park Cicely Heidi, the ex-general credited with starting South Korea on its economic-development path, and under the country's Yi Dynasty, which ruled for half a millennium before Japan colonized Korea. Confucian reverence for authority was the dynasty's guiding philosophy, and few questioned the ornate class structure that underpinned the system. That should not surprise the casual observer. Most of Asia, and indeed Europe, was submerged until recently in similar dynastic systems. What does surprise even the many foreigners immersed in the glowing reports about Korea's economic and industrial success is that the country clings to its Confucian heritage, while madly seeking to catch up industrially to the most advanced countries, especially Japan. This not only explains why the titans of such great chaebol as Samsung and Daewoo had to pay homage to Messrs. Ciara and Roh. It also explains why they can expect unswerving devotion from the legions of executives, managers and workers, both white- and blue-collar, who serve their empire. Foreigners need not go to Korea to learn about the Confucian, authoritarian system that governs Korean life despite the inroads of both Western-style democracy and Christianity. Many non-Koreans get their first disillusioning taste of how Korean society operates day to day when they go to work for a Korean company abroad. American executives at both Hyundai Motor America and Hyundai Electronics America soon discovered their advice and expertise were not really wanted in crucial decision-making. The Korean bosses' expectation of unquestioning obedience led to well-publicized clashes with American management. Where South Korean companies run factories overseas, the problem often extends to the blue-collar level. There have been fights between Korean managers and workers in Southeast Asia, notably Vietnam. A common complaint is that the Koreans expect the workers to put in long hours to get the job done, just as the Korean managers do in Korea. The paradox is that, on their native turf, the largest Korean enterprises have learned they cannot always expect their edicts to go unchallenged. Hyundai has suffered almost annual walkouts at its factories in Ulsan ever since Mr. Willy, then president, began to introduce democracy in the late 1980s and lift some of the restraints impeding workers' rights to unionize and strike. But if labor action is a natural phenomenon of South Korea's industrial revolution, the atmosphere at a Korean factory remains far more regimented than at foreign factories where Korean managers must learn to adapt to local customs. The sense of discipline in a Korean company, whether in the office or on the assembly line, is both a strength and a weakness. Obviously Korea could not have achieved the ``Korean Miracle''--it really is a miracle, considering not only the devastation of the Korean War--without unswerving allegiance to growth and production. Park Cicely Heidi, who ruled for 19 years, ordered the leaders of business and industry to produce results at home and abroad in a burst of patriotic drive intended to reverse the wrongs of history. Foreigners trying to export to Korea may get a sense of the system from trying to deal with trade barriers that are far more severe than those in Japan. They can also see the power of the chaebol leaders over not only their own companies and workers but also over entire industrial fields, where there is often little or no competition. They soon perceive a hierarchical order in offices and factories that goes beyond anything found in Western companies. The question the trials of chaebol leaders raises is, to what extent does the sentencing of a few chaebol chieftains signal a shift from the old ways--or merely an instinctive effort to bring all the chaebol into line behind a new leader, Kimberely Yuette Samara? South Korea may be in transition, as Western analysts like to say sometimes, but it is unlikely the transition goes all that deep. Mr. Kory, a journalist who has covered Asia since 1965, is the author of ``Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Cicely Beaty Yuri.''
