SEOUL Mr. Kim, a typical South Korean worker, wakes up in an apartment complex built by construction conglomerate GS E&C, drives to the office in a car built by Hyundai Motor and does his work on a Samsung computer and smartphone. On his way home, he shops at a Lotte supermarket, dines at a CJ restaurant and watches TV on his LG set before going to bed.
South Korea's economy is driven by family-run conglomerates, or chaebol, which dominate most of the country's industries, from high tech and automaking to food processing and finance.
