December 22, 2024

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Citizens and police officers stand off in front of the National Assembly in Seoul early Thursday as the authorities block the entrance to the parliament after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law hours earlier. (Yonhap)

Korea’s leading conglomeratesa are keeping close tabs on the aftermath of the country’s first martial law declaration since 1979 as they look to minimize potential damage from the political rift.

According to industry officials on Wednesday, executives at Samsung affiliates gathered throughout the night to determine a response after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law at around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday. Samsung officials held emergency meetings the following morning.

SK has been closely following the political turmoil and discussing how it could impact the conglomerate internally and externally. Choi Chang-won, the head of the group's highest decision-making body SK Supex Council, brought high-ranking officials together for an emergency meeting on how to deal with the consequences of the martial law declaration.

LG affiliates convened urgent meetings in the morning to monitor destabilized exchange rates and market fluctuations and discuss ways to handle inquiries from major international customers. Headquartered in Yeouido, where the National Assembly is located, LG sent a notice to its employees encouraging them to work from home as the area could remain chaotic even after the martial law declaration was withdrawn.

Hyundai Motor and Hanwha said they are also carefully tracking the political rift.

HD Hyundai called for a CEO-level meeting with the leaders of its affiliates at 7:30 a.m., about three hours after President Yoon announced his acceptance of parliament’s motion to rescind martial law.

“As domestic and overseas circumstances are expected to move urgently, presidents of each company should adopt an emergency management mindset, and in particular, they should focus on financial risks such as exchange rates,” said Kwon Oh-gap, chairman of HD Hyundai.

"At manufacturing sites such as shipyards, we must pay more attention to compliance with principles and regulations to prevent safety accidents.”

The country’s top economic and trade groups, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea International Trade Association, have not released any official statements. However, the KCCI and KITA said they were closely monitoring the aftermath of the martial law declaration.

When the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion in December 2016, business groups said the focus must be centered on minimizing the damage from the presidential vacancy and working to recover the economy, while legal judgments should be left up to the Constitutional Court.

“Although the martial law declaration came to an end in only six hours, the whole world knows about it,” said an industry source.

“(Korean) companies doing business overseas are going to have to deal with what happened in Seoul when speaking with their clients. If global clients feel that Korea’s business landscape is volatile, (Korean) companies must address the concern, but it is extremely difficult for businesses to touch upon political issues.”

With US President-elect Donald Trump set to take office next month, the source explained that the role of the Korean government is more important than ever as the country’s export-dependent economy will have to weather tariff pressure from Washington.

“President Yoon’s martial law declaration has only harmed (Korean) businesses,” he said.

“Lawmakers must act quickly and work together to settle the political rupture as soon as possible to support corporate business activities.”

The stock price of Samsung Electronics, which has the largest market capitalization on the country's main bourse Kospi, was trading at 53,000 won ($37.44) per share as of 1 p.m. on Wednesday, down 0.93 percent from the previous day’s closing.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)