Re: Corporations

[Eubulides <paraconsistent@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

[A few months ago Business Week ran an article asserting that South Korea
had the biggest anti-corporate social movement of any country in the
world. Given the recent upheaval there and the issues raised in the
thread, I thought pen-ler's might find the following link on corporate
governance in Korea and the global connections interesting. The current
scandal[s] there raise serious issues for the strengths/limitations of the
Poulantzasian/Milibandian theories of the State/Capital nexus....]

http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pdf/2002-1-0033.pdf



Parliament votes to impeach president

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Saturday March 13, 2004
The Guardian

Roh Moo-hyun yesterday became the first South Korean president to be
impeached, plunging the country into uncertainty weeks before
parliamentary elections.

Amid chaotic scenes, 193 members of the 273-seat national assembly - more
than the two-thirds majority required - voted to support the impeachment
bill after the president was accused of unfairly attempting to influence
the outcome of the April polls.

Mr Roh will be suspended and replaced by the prime minister, Goh Kun,
while the constitutional court decides whether to accept the vote, a
process that could take up to six months. If it does, South Korea will
have to hold new presidential elections.

Assembly members, who have a reputation for boisterousness, exchanged
shoves, yelled and wept during the historic vote.

"We won a victory," said Choe Byung-yul, leader of the Grand National
party, one of the sponsors of the bill. "But today is not a happy day
because the president elected by the people had to be impeached."

Mr Roh's supporters were incensed. "This is the day our nation's democracy
died," said a statement by the Uri party, whose 47 MPs say they will
resign.

It was Mr Roh's support for the Uri party that prompted his opponents to
begin impeachment proceedings. The president, who is required by law to
remain impartial in elections, had called for an "overwhelming" show of
support for the party.

The impeachment bill claimed his credibility had been shattered by a
series of political funding scandals involving his aides in the run-up to
the December 2002 presidential election. It also charged him with failing
to revive the Korean economy, which grew by just 2.9% last year, compared
with 6.3% in 2002.

Mr Roh, a strong-willed former democracy activist who made his name as a
human rights lawyer, refused to apologise, saying the impeachment bill was
politically motivated revenge for his unexpected election victory over the
Grand National party candidate, Lee Hoi-chang.

Mr Roh relented early yesterday and apologised for the political crisis,
but opponent said it did not go far enough. After he took refuge at his
presidential Blue House residence, his office said it hoped the
constitutional court would "make a quick decision to minimise confusion in
state affairs".

His temporary replacement's first task will be to reassure the rest of the
world that Mr Roh's absence has not created a political vacuum at a
crucial time for the economy and as South Korea and its allies attempt to
resolve fears surrounding North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

South Korea's financial markets were left reeling, with the Kospi
benchmark stock index falling 5.5% before recovering to close 2.4 % down.
The won fell by 1% against the dollar.

The interim president, whose new powers include responsibility for South
Korea's 650,000-strong military, vowed to keep the country stable.

"The people feel unease because the impeachment bill was passed at a time
when the economy faces difficulties," he said, adding that the government
had to do all it could to "ensure that the country's international
credibility will not be damaged".