Obligations to consumers, part 2

There are cultural differences between the West and East when it comes to corporate responsibility. Take this news story for example:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The head of a food company jumped to his death after a government investigation found that his company sold dumplings made with rotten ingredients, police said Monday.

A witness said he saw the man jump from a bridge in Seoul's Han River on Sunday, a police official said.

Police have yet to find the body but found his identification card and a recently written will.

He was identified in media reports only by his family name, Shin -- the head of Vision Food, a dumpling company.

Last week, South Korea's Food and Drug Administration announced that at least 12 companies had been using rotten radishes in their frozen dumplings and ordered the dumplings pulled off the shelves.

The government has confiscated 20 tons of what the local press dubbed "garbage dumplings."

In his will, Shin said that he faced economic difficulties with creditors following the dumpling scandal, the Yonhap news agency said. He wrote his dumplings were harmless to people.

No illness have been reported from the dumplings. But department stores have said that dumpling sales have dropped by up to 90 percent.

Perhaps Mr. Shin went too far, but it's obvious he was truly sorry for his company's misdeeds. Whereas irresponsible corporate executives in the U.S. feel no qualms about stealing money from others and keeping it once the company goes into bankruptcy. Lay, Fastow, and other human scumbags build mansions using their employees' money, and feel no guilt. "After all," they point out, "the board of directors gave us the money." These bastards are completely without honor.

I wish corporations and businesses felt a sense of responsibility to the consumers they serve, but today capitalism is purely concerned with profit.