Samsung Whistleblower Returns to the Public Eye
The man who led Samsung Electronics and the rest of South Korea’s largest conglomerate for 21 years, Lee Kun-hee, is back in the public eye after again becoming chairman of the technology giant two months ago.
But so is the corporate whistleblower whose accusations led to Mr. Lee’s resignation and tax fraud conviction in 2008.
Kim Yong-cheol, a former attorney in the Samsung conglomerate, has a best-selling book about his life, work at Samsung and his thoughts about Mr. Lee’s control of the 64-company empire.
But Mr. Kim has gotten virtually no media attention for the book in South Korea. Newspapers and magazines have turned down advertising for the book and none have printed reviews of it, all in apparent fear of upsetting Samsung, which is the biggest advertiser in the country.
