You're thinking of all of the chaebol/conglomerate companies combined, so Samsung, LG, Hyundae Kia, Posco, Hyundae Heavy Industries, SK Group, CS Group, Lotte, Hanhwa, Hanjin, Kumho Asiana, Doosan, etc., each of which have multiply companies in their portfolios and are serviced by groups of smaller local firms specialized in support for one or a few of the big ships.

But, do they feel above the law? This is certainly a common complaint of South Koreans. These groups are definitely "too big to fail" and they know it. So yes the concentration of power in a few giant firms is remarkable, and not in a good way.

1/5th of exports, 17% of GDP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung

I stand corrected. I shouldn't try to pull statistics from my failing memory anymore. Still big enough to intimidate a government from messing with them.

> Still big enough to intimidate a government from messing with them

Nope, per recent incidents.

Um, well Samsung's president hass been released from jail, but the countrie's last president hasn't... http://fortune.com/2018/02/05/samsung-j-y-lee-released-south...

I'd say that is a LOT of influence.

Released from jail necessarily implies the government will "mess" with them.

An important Samsung person was arrested and promptly released. That is not how a government messes with a company. Tax. Regulations. Things that hurt the bottom line constitute 'messing'.