Not even impeachment of the president can unsettle powerful chaebol
Investors in the family-run conglomerates, which dominate the country’s economic and political landscape, appear confident they will be fine, writes Tim Culpan
Taipei — South Korea’s powerful chaebol are not in trouble. The historic impeachment of President Park Geun-hye has possible replacements and pundits believing they may be in dire straits. Yet investors in the family-run conglomerates, which dominate the country’s economic and political landscape, seem to think they will be just fine. By late morning in Seoul, within an hour of a court confirming parliament’s move to oust Park, an index of Samsung Group stocks was unchanged. So too the Hyundai Group. While a collection of LG Group shares faltered before the announcement, they recovered more than half those losses to be only marginally down, according to an index of nine companies compiled by Bloomberg Gadfly. A collection of five SK Group companies actually rallied, climbing 1.2%.
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