The Untouchable Chaebols of South Korea | Open Secrets

In this episode, we detail how Korea’s chaebols wield outsized power in this democracy, often to the point of outright corruption, monopolistic practices and labor violations. These include all the biggest names in Korean business like Samsung, Hyundai and SK Group. To outsiders, South Korea is a glitzy place, a modern Asian superpower, especially in the world of arts and culture. But domestically, it is home to a deep class divide. It’s the universal story of the have and the have-nots but in a place small enough that the impact of concentrating so much wealth and power in the hands of so few seem so much more obvious than in the US. Open Secrets is a documentary series that looks at just this – secrets lived out in the open, things everyone knows about, but no one will talk about - until that moment when it becomes fully exposed to the world. Each episode visits a different country, looking at a single secret and exploring why the issue remained a secret for years despite existing out in the open. What has allowed these secrets to fester in the open for so long? For some, the reason is a risk, that blowing the whistle can be deadly. For others, it’s a privilege, that they benefited from the secret staying such for too long. This series is about the insurmountable control those in the corridors of power have in societies — till someone decides to risk it all to take them here to SUBSCRIBE to VICE Asia: Connect with VICE Asia: Check out our full video catalog: Videos, daily editorial and more: More videos from the VICE network: Like VICE Asia on Facebook: Follow VICE Asia on Twitter: Follow us on Instagram: