Comments on: Korean Trasparency Watch

By: The Marmot’s Hole » Chung Walks, Seoul Court Rub Salt in Wounds

The Marmot’s Hole » Chung Walks, Seoul Court Rub Salt in Wounds — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 13:49:28 +0000

[...] Hyundai Motor and causing about the same amount of damage to the company. This is hardly surprising. I am pretty bitter about this all, especially the ludicrous argument the court gave when Chung was initially [...]

By: railwaycharm

railwaycharm — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:49:31 +0000

Per Brendon’s comment:

. . . As for whether one can find a trustworthy joint venture partner, trust me — you can’t.

I concur. If one can find a JV partner that is decent, it would be more by sheer chance and luck. Even then, that is no guarantee of safety.

If you have to partner-up, go with a company that has some V.C support by an American investor. Many of them insist on governance and audit oversight.

By: Dram_man

Dram_man — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:53:29 +0000

It took seven and half hours for you folks to level a culinary joke after the dog was out the bag?!? Your all slipping people! I expect better next time!

By: Dram_man

Dram_man — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:53:29 +0000

It took seven and half hours for you folks to level a culinary joke after the dog was out the bag?!? Your all slipping people! I expect better next time!

By: Seth Gecko

Seth Gecko — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:02:13 +0000

“Everyone would just be so amazed that a dog was testifying that they’d go along with whatever he said.”

I disagree. I think that Koreans would think that the talking dog must be the most delicious dog.

By: Zonath

Zonath — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:17:43 +0000

But it is true that the testimony of the foreigner is generally held in lower regard than the dog’s.

Well, obviously… Everyone would just be so amazed that a dog was testifying that they’d go along with whatever he said. Just about the only thing that would come close would be if the foreigner managed to speak a couple of words in Korean, but just about everyone’s seen that trick before.

By: R. Elgin

R. Elgin — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:56:59 +0000

Per Brendon’s comment:

. . . As for whether one can find a trustworthy joint venture partner, trust me — you can’t.

I concur. If one can find a JV partner that is decent, it would be more by sheer chance and luck. Even then, that is no guarantee of safety.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:12:34 +0000

I’d suspect we’re off the mark in suspecting that corruption is the real issue here. I think this is politics.

So, with the election later this year the head of Hyundai gets hauled in, faces jail, and then has his sentence suspended. Hmm.
A few months ago, the head of Samsung is hauled in, faces jail, and then has his sentence suspended. Hmmm again.

Message sent, or deal made? “You even think about financially supporting ParkGeunHye or Lee MyungPak, and it’s trouble for you” OR “For this release, we are expecting that President Roh’s favored successor gets cargo trucks of cash delivered.”

The heads of the two largest Chaebol face jail and walk, in an election year. Think, people.

By: Brendon Carr

Brendon Carr — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:32:33 +0000

It’s not true that whoever has the older lawyer wins. But it is true that the testimony of the foreigner is generally held in lower regard than the dog’s. That’s not to say that the court believes everything Koreans tell it either — the Korean judge basically has the same view as Greg House (”everybody lies”). But in the witness hierarchy person –> dog –> foreigner it’s hard to be a foreign plaintiff, as it’s the plaintiff who has the burden of proof.

As for whether one can find a trustworthy joint venture partner, trust me — you can’t.

By: snow

snow — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 05:55:20 +0000

Interesting story Seth. Fortunately, I’ve never suffered such a bad experience (nothing that ever got near a court), but from anecdotal evidence, I know that some outside investors are leery of investing in Korea because they are unsure of what will happen to their money (eg. a CEO of a Japanese educational firm told me he couldn’t find a trustworthy partner for a jv in Korea). At the same time, I agree with Linkd that things are improving. Some Korean companies are making efforts to improve the situation (with a big push coming from foreign investors), which maybe shows how bad it must have been before.