Chaebols and Their Impact on South Korean Society

Abstract

Conglomerates also known as Chaebols are part of the reason why South Korea became economically successful country. This thesis was based on studying how South Korea’s Chaebols have impacted their society. The information was provided by already existing data, which goal is to achieve an understanding of Chaebol's position in South Korea’s economic system.

In the first chapter, the thesis dives into the meaning of Chaebols and their management structure. Further on, discussing the virtues and the pitfalls of Chaebols which brings out the idea that these conglomerates could be described as a big tree with branches growing into different industries that may not be part of its core business.

Looking through the history, Korea was under Japanese domination which greatly influenced South Korea when Japan exported the industrial development to the other East Asian countries. After independence Korea began to develop these Japanese industrial ideas for their benefits.

The Chaebols are strongly connected to both the country’s political and economic factors and their dominance is very significant. Therefore, the thesis brought Samsung as an example in the second chapter, to see the comprehensive picture of how particular Chaebol came to be.

With the knowledge of Chaebols, one can understand the Korean lifestyle better and the irony that lies within. The negative and positive impacts Chaebols have brought gives the reasoning for Koreans mixed feeling towards them. This research contributes to the literature on studying South Koreas economy and learning its management style.