tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post8566876210193527666..comments2023-06-25T18:01:34.208+09:00Comments on Busan Mike / 부산 마이크: Takeshi's CastleMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15349691823513127693noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post-49186636847068085212008-04-23T15:03:00.000+09:002008-04-23T15:03:00.000+09:00Hello Sperwer,I think anyone who's read my blog fo...Hello Sperwer,<BR/><BR/>I think anyone who's read my blog for any length of time would probably recognise that I tend to write most of my entries with my tongue somewhat planted in my cheek. This is not to say I don't try to be factual with what I write. I may be wrong sometimes, but where necessary I strive to research what I put into words - in a way it's part of my learning process in Korea.<BR/><BR/>I appreciate where you are coming from on this, but I referred to the company as the 'Japanese-founded Lotte corporation', and I believe that is factually accurate - Lotte Corporation was founded in Japan.<BR/><BR/>I do not disagree that Lotte was founded by a Korean. According to what I have read it was founded in Tokyo, by Shin Kyuk-Ho who was living in Japan, and was known at the time by the Japanese name of Takeo Shigemitsu. But in modern business practice, a corporation is judged to be 'a person', which is to say it has a legal identity beyond that of any founders or officers. As such, the country of its incorporation is its nationality until such time as this is changed. It was born as a Japanese company.<BR/><BR/>To draw a parallel, eBay was never regarded as a French company even though it was founded in the US by French-born Pierre Omidyar, Yahoo was never regarded as Taiwanese because of Jerry Yang, Google was never regarded as being a half-Russian company because Sergei Brin co-founded it. Now if by some chance, for example, Jerry Yang had mainly employed Taiwanese people as Yahoo grew, would this then have made it a Taiwanese company? There is certainly scope for debate intellectually, but legally this would change nothing. Yahoo remains an American company so long as that is the country of its incorporation, no matter how many Taiwanese or people of one nationality it ultimately employs.<BR/><BR/>I accept that Lotte have gone quite far down the road of moving away from their Japanese roots, dual-listing on the Tokyo and Seoul stock exchanges and dual-headquartering to some extent. I think it suits them to be nationalistically ambiguous - creating the image of being a Korean company in Korea and a perhaps a Japanese company in Japan. The facts are not so simple though and certainly I have highlighted that.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15349691823513127693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268789363253190247.post-75907987954927798872008-04-23T11:20:00.000+09:002008-04-23T11:20:00.000+09:00It's a little misleading to make a point about Lot...It's a little misleading to make a point about Lotte having been founded in Japan, particularly in the manner that you do, which suggests it's a Japanese company. In fact, it is largely owned and controlled by Koreans, who happened to reside in Japan. It's as much of a Korean chaebol as the rest of the usual suspectsSperwerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14923936105650166276noreply@blogger.com