By Lauren Frayer
NPR
May 28, 2017
“Chaebols are just giant conglomerates that control so much of the economy on a scale just not seen in a lot of the world,” says Geoffrey Cain, who trained as an anthropologist and is writing a book about Samsung.
Cain says South Korea’s conglomerates are so pervasive, they squeeze out smaller businesses.
“They can basically tell a small business to supply them a part and just pay them whatever they want, and then pay them whenever they want, and give them a terrible contract,” he says.
Small businesses struggle to grow.
“So that’s what creates so few job opportunities,” Cain says.
Read more about South Korean youth’s struggles to get a job at NPR