The Republic of Korea may be an example of a capitalist dictatorship controlled by 3 companies in a trench-coat
I’ve made quite a few people chuckle with that comparison, I only swap ‘companies’ with ‘chaebols’ because it rolls better in the phrase I feel, and gives me an excuse to launch an impromptu lecture to anyone who doesn’t know what that means.
Yep! I tend to do that more when talking about 재벌 IRL, as for many Statesians they don’t really know about them at all. One thing they all seem to understand immediately is that Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc. are massive in the ROK and that the families at the top are thus the real rulers of the ROK. Also serves as a nice springboard to talk about where they came from, ie collaborators with the US and former Japanese colonialist government.
Makes a good springboard for talking about how monopolized the economy is by talking about how “the phone company Samsung? Yeah they make cars. Baby clothes too. Yeah and windmills. Also giant boats. They also run gold courses, resorts, hotels, have advertising and marketing companies, they also make steel and run powerplants. And the offer life and health insurance. If it wasn’t for the other chaebols dominating other markets in their own monopolies, you bet your bottom dollar Samsung would be also selling chips, beer, and burgers.” And bouncing from that to the u.s own megacorps and how everything is an illusion of choice dominated by a corporate oligopoly.
The biggest eye-opener seems to be telling people that Sansung sells insurance, has luxury hotels like the Silla, etc. The ROK is a bit more “naked” in that sense, contradictions are more out in the open. Watching the Samsung Lions play the Lotte Giants, instead of the Yankees against the Dodgers, for example, puts it up in your face a bit more. However, you’re absolutely right that the US’ own megacorps are the ones at the top, and it isn’t just “big tech.”
I’ve made quite a few people chuckle with that comparison, I only swap ‘companies’ with ‘chaebols’ because it rolls better in the phrase I feel, and gives me an excuse to launch an impromptu lecture to anyone who doesn’t know what that means.
I simple refer to it as the Republic of Samsung
I’ll now be borrowing chaebol for the purpose of referring to the Bolloré group and other notable members of the french oligarchy. Cheers
Yep! I tend to do that more when talking about 재벌 IRL, as for many Statesians they don’t really know about them at all. One thing they all seem to understand immediately is that Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc. are massive in the ROK and that the families at the top are thus the real rulers of the ROK. Also serves as a nice springboard to talk about where they came from, ie collaborators with the US and former Japanese colonialist government.
Makes a good springboard for talking about how monopolized the economy is by talking about how “the phone company Samsung? Yeah they make cars. Baby clothes too. Yeah and windmills. Also giant boats. They also run gold courses, resorts, hotels, have advertising and marketing companies, they also make steel and run powerplants. And the offer life and health insurance. If it wasn’t for the other chaebols dominating other markets in their own monopolies, you bet your bottom dollar Samsung would be also selling chips, beer, and burgers.” And bouncing from that to the u.s own megacorps and how everything is an illusion of choice dominated by a corporate oligopoly.
The biggest eye-opener seems to be telling people that Sansung sells insurance, has luxury hotels like the Silla, etc. The ROK is a bit more “naked” in that sense, contradictions are more out in the open. Watching the Samsung Lions play the Lotte Giants, instead of the Yankees against the Dodgers, for example, puts it up in your face a bit more. However, you’re absolutely right that the US’ own megacorps are the ones at the top, and it isn’t just “big tech.”
Ah fuck I forgot about the sports teams that one cracks me up the most every time it’s brought up!
Yep! Lots of quirky bits like that that make sense when analyzing the development of the ROK.