‘Chaebol sniper’ reformist becomes S. Korea’s anti-trust chief

SEOUL: An activist economist renowned for his relentless campaign to reform South Korea’s scandal-mired business conglomerates such as Samsung was appointed yesterday as the head of the country’s powerful anti-trust regulator.

Kim Sang- Jo, nicknamed ‘chaebol sniper’ for his sharp criticism of the family- controlled empires, was named as chairman of the Fair Trade Commission ( FTC), indicating that President Moon Jae-In plans to make good on election promises to bring the business powerhouses to heel after a string of corruption cases.

“The country’s economy has lost much of its past dynamism,” Kim told journalists after his appointment was announced. “One of the main reasons is that markets are not fair.

“I’ll do my best to restore a fair market so that every economic player can achieve their full potential,” he said.

The likes of Samsung and Hyundai, sprawling familyled conglomerates known as “chaebols”, were crucial to the South’s rapid economic transformation in the 1960s and 70s from the ruins of war.

But they have also turned into objects of public scorn, accused of choking off innovation and engaging in corrupt business practices to ensure the families retain control of their empires.

Cosy ties between chaebols and the political elite were exposed by a high- profile scandal that brought down Moon’s predecessor Park Geun-Hye, who was sacked in March.

Centre-leftist Moon has vowed to bolster the FTC in order to monitor the chaebols and step up measures to stop them exploiting small businesses and subcontractors.

On the campaign trail he vowed to squeeze the four biggest conglomerates — Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG — labelling them “obstacles to economic growth”. Moon also suggested he would revive the FTC’s investigation bureau, scrapped in 2005 in a move towards deregulation. — AFP