Whistleblowers are a rare breed in South Korea. So when Samsung’s former legal chief Kim Yong-chul spoke of an alleged $200 million slush fund at the company, he took a brave step.

In speaking out, Kim was supported by South Korea’s influential Catholic Priests Association for Justice. It is unusual for anyone to challenge one of the chaebols, South Korea’s all-powerful business clans.

Apart from the church, Kim has received active support from People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society – which have both long campaigned for better standards of governance in South Korea’s large firms.

Upcoming Ethical Corporation conferences & events:
Learn vital anti-corruption, ethics and compliance best practice and strategies at foremost European Summit
2–3 November 2010, London Learn CSR best practice from multinational CEOs and 450 of your peers at Europe’s largest sustainability conference
3–4 May 2011, London Find out how M&S, Alstom, Cadbury, P&G engage their suppliers in sustainability - and saved £££s
9–10 November 2010, London
Please login to view whole article - or subscribe here.
For a free two week trial to Ethical Corporation online, please click here.