The following Comment is made by Cho Suck-rai, the chairman of Hyosung Group, which is a Korean chaebol–a chaebol is a powerful family in control of a large group of public companies in Korea, after a meeting with the new “pro-chaebol” president Lee Myung-bak.
“Why is corporate governance so important?” Cho asked. “What benefits does the reform of corporate governance give? If ownership is separated from management, does it mean an improvement in corporate governance? The important thing is whether management is efficient. If the company owners seek only their own profits in management, they had better remain just shareholders. But not all business owners do that.”