SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's nominee for antitrust regulator chief, Kim Sang-jo, said on Thursday that unravelling cross-shareholdings among group affiliates is "not an urgent matter" as big businesses like Lotte Group have made progress in addressing the issue.
Kim, nicknamed "chaebol sniper" for his shareholder activist campaigns against the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-largest economy, was nominated by President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday to head the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC).
Moon has pledged to reform chaebols in the wake of the bribery scandal that led to the ouster of his predecessor Park Geun-hye, as well as the indictment and arrest of Samsung (KS:005930) chief Jay Y. Lee.
But he is expected to push for moderate reforms likes empowering shareholders rather than bringing fundamental changes to ownership structures.
South Korea's top family-run conglomerates include Samsung Group (SAGR.UL), Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group.
Kim said seven conglomerates have 90 cross-shareholding ties as of now, sharply down from about 98,000 chains at 14 companies five years ago.
"Chaebol reform is never about destroying or disbanding chaebols. Chaebol reform is about helping and inducing them to grow into important assets in the South Korean economy through rules," he said at a news conference.
The regulator would discuss with the parliament possible revisions to rules on holding companies, he added, without elaborating.
Moon has vowed to crack down on unfair deals between chaebols and small- and medium-sized companies, and the funneling of contracts and orders to affiliates of chaebols.