Chaebol the claim that in order to be a competitive economy more power must be given to the chaebol. In recent years, the leading political parties of South Korea have reversed their pro-large corporate stance to one of economic diversification. Under Kim Dae-Jung and in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial crisis, many reforms were made to the chaebol. Most of these changes pertained to corporate structure, transparency in financial reporting, corporate governance, and debt stabilization. In 1997, the IMF provided a bailout loan of $60 billion conditional on revision. Distressed financial institutions were to be closed down and those
Chaebol culture. Massive market concentration exists as is evident from the fact that 80% of the country's GDP is derived from the chaebol. The largest of the group, Samsung, exports 20% of South Korea's goods and services alone. Although no longer financially supported by the government, these firms have attained economies of scale on such a massive level that it is extremely difficult for a startup or small or medium enterprise (SME) to surmount the high barriers to entry. A majority of these smaller companies end up being acquired by the chaebol, only increasing their size and economic dominance. In recent