South Korea Let the World's 7th Largest Shipping Company Sink — On Purpose

On August 5th, 2016, a state-owned bank became the largest shareholder in a South Korean shipping line. It wasn't Hanjin. It was Hanjin's rival — a company that had also been sinking for two years. Three weeks later, Hanjin — the world's seventh largest container carrier — filed for bankruptcy. The government that just rescued one shipping company let the other one collapse, stranding $14 billion of cargo and more than a thousand crew members at sea. This is the story of a 70-year-old shipping empire, and the accounting scandal at a different company entirely that decided its fate. CHAPTERS 00:00 The bank saved the wrong company first 01:57 Inchon, 1945 — one truck 02:59 Building the seventh largest line on earth 03:50 The game of chicken 06:00 Why the rival got rescued and Hanjin didn't 09:38 Ships turned away from every port on earth 14:45 What it costs to find out SOURCES [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanjin_... Wikipedia, Hanjin Shipping (accessed 27 August 2026) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanjin_... Wikipedia, Hanjin Shipping (accessed 27 August 2026) [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanjin_... Wikipedia, Hanjin Shipping (accessed 27 August 2026) [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanjin_... Wikipedia, Hanjin Shipping (accessed 27 August 2026) [5] https://www.csis.org/analysis/collaps... Center for Strategic and International Studies, The Collapse of Hanjin Shipping is Leading South Korea to Rethink Two Economic Ideas (2016) [6] https://www.fundinguniverse.com/compa... FundingUniverse, History of Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd. [7] https://wolfstreet.com/2016/09/05/han... Wolf Street, Zombie Apocalypse: The Hanjin Bailout that Didn't Happen (5 September 2016) [8] https://wolfstreet.com/2016/09/05/han... Drewry, Zombie Apocalypse, quoted in Wolf Street (5 September 2016) [9] https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016... World Socialist Web Site, South Korea's Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy has global impact (9 September 2016) [10] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/... PBS NewsHour, This South Korean shipping company's collapse could affect you (2016) [11] https://www.project44.com/blog/lesson... project44, Hanjin Shipping Collapse: What Supply Chains Learned [12] https://gcaptain.com/hanjin-lost-game... gCaptain, Hanjin Lost in Game of Chicken, Chairman Says (October 2016) [13] https://www.worldfinance.com/markets/... World Finance, The collapse of Hanjin Shipping makes waves in South Korea's business culture [14] https://www.ibanet.org/article/f10b0a... International Bar Association, Hanjin collapse challenges South Korean policy [15] https://www.koreaherald.com/article/1... Korea Herald, Hyundai Group loses control over Hyundai Merchant Marine [16] https://www.foxnews.com/world/hanjin-... Associated Press via Fox News, Hanjin pledges $90 million to resolve shipping cargo chaos (September 2016) Terminal Value covers companies and money stories the English-speaking internet hasn't told. No predictions, no hot takes. What happened, why, and what it cost. #business #documentary #finance