Kim Gwang-ho spent 25 years at Hyundai Motor Co., ultimately helping make decisions about recalls -- a role that required technical expertise and sound judgment.
Then in November 2016, the engineer was fired for doing the almost unthinkable.
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Kim revealed to U.S. and South Korean regulators safety lapses at the giant automaker. The company hit back, suing him for leaking trade secrets, while his house was raided by police investigating the matter.
In the U.S., blowing the whistle on corporate misdeeds is big business, with federal agencies getting thousands of tips a year, and recent payouts exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars. But in the rest of the world, it’s rare, something that’s especially true in South Korea, where speaking up about misconduct in organizations is considered taboo. A big reason why is because the country is dominated by family-controlled conglomerates, the chaebols that are known for their cutthroat, hierarchical corporate cultures.
“Conglomerates are like an empire where an owner family is acting like a king,” Kim, 59, said in a video interview from Seoul. “Whistle-blowing is an act of betrayal and denial against the king. Raising an issue is equivalent to asking to get fired.”
For Kim, it was a calculated gamble that eventually paid off.
Last month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded him...
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