So why are the chaebol tolerated? Because the South Korean economy is unusually dependent on exports (78 per cent compared to the OECD average of 56 per cent) and relies on their continuing success. ‘They have brilliant synergies,’ Andrew Salmon told me. ‘And they’ve globalised extremely successfully, with great marketing these days, great branding, pretty good pricing, good products. They’re really good. They’ve got it all apart from the governance issue – that is their Achilles heel.’
