Govt. to Approve Chaebols" Division

The government has stated that if chaebols restructure their organizations through the formation of independent companies, it will no longer treat the newly formed companies as part of a chaebol.
The government currently imposes various restrictions on the 30 biggest chaebol's companies. A company is deemed part of a chaebol if a given chaebol is the majority stockholder or holds more than 30% of a company's equity or if the relationship of money supply and debt guarantee between subsidiaries of a chaebol is closer than normal business practice.
The deregulation by the government is attributed to the recent efforts by chaebols to divide and divest their subsidiaries, and the feeling that the process is being interrupted or impeded by related regulations on the fair trade law.
Concerning the matter, an official at the Fair Trade Commission said, ' The Commission intends to approve exceptions to the government's regulations provided that mother companies do not interfere with the management of the newly formed independent companies regardless of who owns the company.' The commission will make its decision on a case by case basis and not on the government's set conditions and rules regarding what constitutes an independent company as opposed to one that is still part of a chaebol.