hankyoreh

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The highhanded behavior of the heads of huge family-run conglomerates, called chaebol, is making waves in the country once again. It’s like some kind of chronic ailment that flares up every time we were about to forget it.

On Apr. 4, the police announced that they had asked Jung Woo-hyun, chairman of the MPK Group, to come in for questioning by Apr. 7 on charges that he assaulted a security guard. The MPK Group is well known for its Mr. Pizza brand of restaurants.

At 10:30 pm on Apr. 2, Jung allegedly tried to leave a building that contains one of the company‘s franchise restaurants only to find that the front door was locked. Jung called the security guard into the restaurant, at which point he reportedly yelled at him for locking the door without checking to see if Jung was in the building and then punched him.

The front door of the building is locked at 10 pm, while the back door is left open for employees who remain inside, reports say.

Initially, Jung’s staff told the media that there had been an altercation and that Jung had raised his fist in anger but that others in the room had kept him from doing anything more than grabbing the security guard by the collar.

But when the police reviewed footage from security cameras, they confirmed that Jung had struck the security guard. This meant that Jung had not only committed assault but had also lied about it.

At the end of last month, the South Korean public was angered to learn that Lee Hae-wook, vice chairman of Daelim Engineering and Construction (one of South Korea‘s leading construction companies), had a habit of being abusive to his drivers, both physically and verbally. When Lee was annoyed by his driver, he would fire them on a spot. Last year alone, about 40 drivers reportedly lost their jobs in this way.

Facing increasing criticism from the public, Lee made a public apology before a general meeting of stockholders. “My bad behavior has hurt people in ways that can never be erased. I ask forgiveness from all of the people who have been hurt by me,” Lee said.

And then at the end of last year, there was a public stir when the news broke that Kim Man-sik, honorary chairman of Monggo Foods, had been regularly beating and cursing at his employees. Kim also offered a “humble and sincere apology” to everyone who had been emotionally scarred and to the South Korean public.

There has been a slew of such scandals in recent years, including the “nut rage” incident involving Cho Hyun-ah, then vice president of Korean Air, and the abusive treatment of franchises by Namyang Dairy.

By now, one would think that chaebol brass would have learned their lesson and started to be more cautious about their behavior, but there are no indications that that is happening.

No doubt there are several reasons for this, not least of which is South Korean society’s compassionate tendency to let offenders off easily as long as they apologize. This is why, if only to prevent others from behaving in this way, the courts must take the charges of assault against Jung seriously and not just give him a slap on the wrist.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]