Korean Chaebols

Having been here for 9 weeks, we have learned that chaebols (conglomerate corporations) impact almost all areas of our daily lives here in Korea. The most prevalent that we have seen here are Hyundai, LG, SK, and Lotte.

Though it is only the seventh largest chaebol in Korea, Lotte is by far the biggest chaebol here in Ulsan. We recently learned that the CEO of Lotte is from Ulsan, so that explains its popularity here. To give you an idea of how big these chaebols are, these are just a few of the ways that Lotte touches our lives in an average day. First, we wake up in our Lotte Hotel. We shower with our Lotte soap. Jeff goes to work at his Lotte owned KP refinery. I shop in the Lotte Department Store. We drink Lotte bottled water and eat Lotte candies that we bought at the Lotte Supermarket. And these are just the obvious ways that we notice!