Note on Research, Translations, and Korean
Names
I INTERVIEWED MORE THAN four hundred current and former Samsung
employees, executives, politicians, businesspeople, board members,
journalists, activists, and analysts, as well as a member of Samsung’s
founding Lee family. Samsung did not cooperate with this book. Most of
my interviews were through unofficial channels. Samsung, however,
cooperated with my earlier magazine reporting for Time and Fast
Company. Those official interviews are included.
The interviews took place in South Korea, Japan, China, New York,
New Jersey, Texas, and California. Many interviewees did not want to be
named or go on the record. I have respected their wishes. Many graciously
offered to help me, knowing their careers were at great risk, and with little
benefit to themselves.
Interviews were conducted in Korean, Japanese, and English,
depending on the needs of the interviewee. Many Korean figures of speech
don’t translate fluidly into English. I have double-checked these statements
with the subjects to ensure that the original intent was not lost, with the
help of my researcher, Max Soeun Kim, talented young Guardian stringer
and native Korean speaker.
This book follows no single convention for Korean names. It follows
the personal preferences of the people I interviewed and wrote about. Most
Koreans prefer the standard usage: family name first, given name second.
On second mention, some write their given names as initials. Lee Byung-
chul, for instance, becomes B.C. Lee. Sometimes Koreans prefer to
hyphenate their given names (Lee Kun-hee). Sometimes they leave out the
hyphen (Park Chul Wan). The Revised Romanization system is used
throughout.
Researching this book, I used a mixture of investigative journalism and