While it’s not admirable for a major company such as Samsung to commit such alleged wrongdoings, it would be naïve to think that it’s just Samsung that would have been doing such activities in Korea, as it is practically impossible to do businesses without greasing the palms of bureaucrats and others in the position of power in Korea

But the news such as this can contribute to the innocent eyes of foreigners who do not have the understanding of the inner workings of Korean society with a particularly biased view toward Samsung, when in fact just about every other business-big or small- in Korea is doing pretty much the same thing.

Thanks for making it clear that such corruption is rampant throughout Korean society. Now we know that it’s not just Samsung of which we should be careful, but doing business with Korea tout suite that we should avoid.

“Monopolistic?” …other very innovative and hard-working companies in Korea… how about LG and Hyundai, who have very successful mobile phone and semiconductor businesses, respectively… and both companies are daring to compete and hanging in quite quite well on the world stage with the “monopolistic” SS, whose biggest products are mobile phones and semiconductors.

“The guy is a despicable one”

Ye olde blame the whistle-blower, eh ? You’ll find very few squeaky-clean whistle-blowers. However, he is doing the Korean economy a big favor by providing much-needed details and evidence against Samsung and Samil PWC.

“…who do not have the understanding of the inner workings of Korean society…”

So, in other words, let’s do nothing to improve the corruption in Korea, Inc. and let Korea continue to slip in the world GDP rankings. You must really hate Korea, then. *sarcasm*

I take it by defending Samsung and insulting the whistle-blower that you’re a strong supporter or Korea and thus its economy, yes ? If so, I encourage you to think about how corruption acts as a frictional tax, thus putting the Korean economy at a disadvantage versus other world economies that have less frictional drag.

As an example, look at foreign direct investment. While the Chinese economy has benefited enormously from FDI, Korea, Inc. continues to drive away foreign capital with anti-competitive behavior, including in your words, “greasing the palms of bureaucrats and others in the position of power in Korea”.

Also, look at all of the other very innovative and hard-working companies in Korea who can’t dare to compete with a corrupt, monopolistic company like Samsung.

While it’s not admirable for a major company such as Samsung to commit such alleged wrongdoings, it would be naïve to think that it’s just Samsung that would have been doing such activities in Korea, as it is practically impossible to do businesses without greasing the palms of bureaucrats and others in the position of power in Korea

But the news such as this can contribute to the innocent eyes of foreigners who do not have the understanding of the inner workings of Korean society with a particularly biased view toward Samsung, when in fact just about every other business-big or small- in Korea is doing pretty much the same thing.

(That’s a true story. Two of my buddies were friends with the daughter, Lee Yoon-hyung, and they were at the Lee residence often. That museum in Hannam-dong was really built for her, and she was in the US to study to be its curator.)

And Roh denies the allegations? Of course he must be telling the truth - his statement sparkles, like a diamond of rare size and beauty.