chaebols

Transformational LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo dies 

The influential chairman of South Korea’s LG Group, who helped transform the company into a technology heavyweight, has passed away after a battle with brain disease.

Third-generation leader Koo Bon-moo, 73, had been ill for a year, LG said in a statement, and had refused life support.

Maersk charts blockchain future

AP Moller—Maersk has entered into a joint venture with IBM and logistics company Agility, which aims to use blockchain technology to make the companies’ supply chains more efficient and secure.

Maersk, controlled by the eponymous family via AP Moller Holding A/S, wants to create a trade platform using distributed ledger technology, which establishes a shared, set-in-stone record of transactions. It also allows those within a particular network to access the data minutes after transactions take place.

A newly revised law in South Korea will see the chiefs of major family-controlled conglomerates, known as chaebol, come under examination as lawmakers look to ensure the stability of their financial subsidiaries, officials said this week. 

The move comes nearly three years after the Tongyang Group, then the 38th largest chaebol in South Korea, declared bankruptcy after inappropriately selling commercial paper and corporate bonds, causing damages to the tune of ₩2 trillion ($1.87 billion). 

South Korean politicians are considering new legislation aimed at controlling abuses of power and misconduct in family-run conglomerates, and is being nicknamed after Heather Cho, the Korean Airlines next gen whose inflight tantrum in December last year captured international headlines.