Then there is the question of execution. Labor will protest, with as many as 40,000 mostly white-collar workers expected to lose their jobs as overlapping operations are trimmed, although the FKI says overall employment will be stable or higher. And once the consortia are set up, former bitter rivals will have to learn to work together. And even if top managers are able to put aside their egos, combining disparate corporate cultures could create huge difficulties in offices and factories. The chaebol are shrugging off the criticism.
Banks are aghast.
Officials are also playing coy. The companies must demonstrate that they are willing to go as far as possible with their own self-help efforts. A cabinet meeting to discuss the chaebol plan is expected soon. While the Big Deal as announced disappointed many, it still marks the first time the country's top tycoons showed an inkling of compromise. That, analysts say, is a small step forward and a credit to President Kim's unrelenting pressure on the hitherto unbending chaebol chieftains.