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The overseas business community in Korea is up in arms over a surprise tax probe of foreign investment funds. The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) said Sunday it was about to release a protest and pay an official visit to Cheong Wa Dae. ¡°We¡¯ve formally requested to visit Cheong Wa Dae," an AMCHAM official said. "Foreign businesspeople in Korea believe the probe was motivated by domestic politics, and by visiting Choeng Wa Dae, they want to know if the probe is related" to upcoming byelections on April 30.
The official claimed one or two overseas financial firms were getting ready to pull out of Korea. He said last week's raids on the funds by the National Tax Service (NTS) "will greatly hurt Korea¡¯s national image, and Korea¡¯s foreign investment environment will rapidly freeze over.¡± An employee of an overseas company in Korea said, ¡°Foreign financial firms resent that in a single morning, they¡¯ve been tagged as criminals... They took the risk and invested in Korea after getting advice from the nation¡¯s leading lawyers, and if they are labeled criminals just because they made some money, who is going to invest in Korea?¡±
(Choi Woo-seok, wschoi@chosun.com )
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