Head of Tear Gas Firm Tops List of Wealthy in S. Korea
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SEOUL — A woman who heads a tear-gas company earned more money than anybody else in South Korea last year, the result of a surge in violent protests, tax officials said Saturday.
Han Young Ja, president of Sam Young Chemical Co., earned $7.3 million last year and paid $3.4 million in income tax, the Office of National Tax Administration said in a report to the National Assembly.
Her company holds a monopoly on the production of tear gas.
The officials attributed Han’s high income to frequent demonstrations by radical students, striking factory workers and other anti-government groups.
The nation’s second-highest income earner last year was Cho Joong Hoon, chairman of the Hanjin group, composed of about two dozen subsidiaries including Korean Air, the South Korean flag carrier. Cho reported $6.3 million in personal income, the officials said.
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