Hong Jin-ki was a colorful lawyer with a love for poetry and words. In
1965, B.C. founded Samsung’s newspaper, the JoongAng Ilbo (“The Central
Times”) and hired Hong to run it. JoongAng would become one of South
Korea’s three major news outlets, modeled on Japan’s daily papers. The
newspaper was meant to represent corporate voices in addition to reporting
the news.
For Samsung, the newspaper was a way of defending itself against
political attack. As B.C. told Time magazine, “Mass communications are
the best way to prevent bad politics.”
As head of the company newspaper, Hong was able to control B.C. “He
was so good at holding my grandfather by the balls,” Henry Cho said.
“How did he pull that off?” I asked.
“By being next to him,” Henry said. “Giving [him] lots of interesting
information about politics and what’s going on in the world.”
Hong, in other words, served as the court whisperer at Samsung.—
IN THE MORNING DARKNESS of May 16, 1961, South Koreans in Seoul
woke up once again to the sound of tanks rolling through the streets.
“We shall rise up against the government to save the country,”
announced General Park Chung-hee to his soldiers before the coup d’état.
“We can accomplish our goals without bloodshed. Let us join in this
Revolutionary Army to save the country!”
“That day...around 7:00 A.M.,” wrote B.C. Lee, who was in Japan, “I set
out to enjoy some early-morning golf, after a long time. As I climbed into
the car at the hotel entrance, my Japanese driver, Kuwabara, said to me:
‘Have you heard the news that there’s been a military revolution in Korea?’ ”