Comments on: Between Heaven and Hell

By: R. Elgin

R. Elgin — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:25:27 +0000

H&T, I do know that corruption is bad in the U.S. but it is different in scope, for example, staffing government agencies with industry insiders is common practice nowadays in Washington to an unheard of extent and so much so that it has negatively shifted the government’s role as an advocate for public health and welfare to more of a shill for business concerns. Then there is also cases like the Jefferson case that is current, which is simply corruption on an individual.

I also wonder if one could call Roh’s gagging of media sources a corruption of government or just media suppression?

By: hardyandtiny

hardyandtiny — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:16:04 +0000

Who did they ask? What does the average person know about corruption in their government versus other governments?

By: Brendon Carr

Brendon Carr — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:10:16 +0000

Response are varied depending on the circumstances. In general, sunshine — or the threat of sunshine — is the best disinfectant.

By: SomeguyinKorea

SomeguyinKorea — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:09:55 +0000

Brendon,

What can and do you do in cases where one of your clients is being extorted like that?

By: Creo

Creo — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 14:54:00 +0000

Koreans are convinced they are now savvy enough to exploit the stupid foreigners but I don’t think anyone should be too concerned about foreign interests in this country. A chief fault of Koreans is their short sightedness and this guy is an excellent example. They are all so eager to turn a fast and quick buck that they are falling over each other giving out keys to the hen house for what they view as big money. Foreign entities are being welcomed by these opportunists willing to let them in for the equivalent of a bag of shiny silver trinkets. Sound familiar?

Yeh, someone is going to bring up Wal-Mart. Who cares? Sure Korea won that battle. I am the first to admit I love E-Mart and they won because they are the better retailer. But, the facts are the growing army of Starbucks, Coffee Beans, Dunkin Donuts and every other multinational that is buying in is going to win the war.

By the time Koreans start tossing Molotov cocktails through the windows of Starbucks, and setting them selves on fire at Dunkin Donuts, they will have totally forgotten they only have their own people to thank.

By: snow

snow — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 09:22:49 +0000

“No amount of foreign pressure is going to change Korea.”

Brendon, I agree that foreign pressure won’t likely make a difference, but what might make a difference is the diminishing effectiveness of such tactics on foreign investors. Such tactics will continue to cause foreign investors to head for the exit with their cash in hand as they jump on a plane to China (??). Or more likely, foreigners will just continue to bypass the country altogether due to its poor reputation in such matters. Hopefully, this will make Koreans wake up and realize that unless things do change, most FDI will continue to go elsewhere.

By: Brendon Carr

Brendon Carr — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:27:36 +0000

Well, partly because the ticket-pulling is in progress, albeit modified somewhat at the client’s insistence.

No amount of foreign pressure is going to change Korea. Korea changes, and will change, only because Koreans themselves want a different society. The problem comes when the persons in charge of pushing change are the ones benefiting from “the way things are”.

By: Sperwer

Sperwer — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:52:11 +0000

I’ll start on that track with one of my own about a judge who pressured a (foreign) client to settle with a domestic plaintiff who sued for wrongful termination after being fired for having had his assistant procure several hundred thousand dollars of merchandise (including the sort for which is the word “procure” says it all) with company funds, under threat. The judge’s explicitly stated rationale was that it would be embarrassing to “Korean business” for such evidence to be introduced in open court. The client demurred, and the dirtbag plaintiff finally dropped the matter himself rather than have the (very well-documented) facts come out.

By: Sperwer

Sperwer — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:40:21 +0000

Brendon:

Why not tell the rest of the story, Paul Harvey. You know, the bit about the officers of the court/enablers, whose advice is not to pull the knucklehead’s ticket.

By: snow

snow — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 05:17:49 +0000

Ouch, this guy is a fool to be so open and blatant about it, even though it’s Korea (the world is changing). And some people wonder why the Korea discount exists.