Hyundai has "bowed its head" and apologized. On Wednesday the group announced that the shares in Glovis, the company used to transfer power from chairman Chung Mong Koo to Kia Motors president Chung Eui Sun, will be donated to social causes without condition, and that it will work towards ethical and transparent management and towards mutually beneficial relationships with subcontractors. You do wonder about the sincerity of an apology issued while an investigation is closing in on the Chung family, but at any rate, Hyundai should be recognized for admitting its wrongdoing and pledging to give back to society what it earned through wrongful means.
Still, it has not done all that it should be doing to remedy the situation. One hopes to see, at the earliest date possible, plans for dealing with shares in other companies that were used to inflate the family's assets. Doing so would only be a matter of course, if it really means it when it says it was taking action to "clean away all suspicion" about the power transfer. It would be best for Hyundai, too, if it experienced a rebirth by ridding itself of its problematic baggage. That wealth amassed through improper means should not belong to the Chung family in the first place.
Inevitably one still has to wait until being able to have faith in Hyundai. The assets it is going to donate to charity may be worth hundreds of billions, but it still heals only part of the group's wrongs. It should not feel it is being treated unjustly because people don't appreciate its heartfelt announcement. At issue here is whether Hyundai can be born anew not just for the sake of the Chung family, but so that it may be a conglomerate that bears its responsibilities to society and its shareholders. Public confidence will come only when it takes that kind of approach.
There needs to be an end to the problematic practice of jaebeols that donate money to charity when their illegal or otherwise less-than-legal actions suddenly become an issue. Such donations should not be bartering material designed to bend the measuring stick of the law that they are judged by. How the investigations into Samsung and Hyundai are concluded will be an important test.
The Hankyoreh, 20 April 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Hyundai's Apology and Charity Donation |
