The 30 leading south Korean monopoly capitalists lost a combined $1,191,600,000 on the Korea Stock Market during 1996. The overall market value of the stocks owned by the heads of the top 30 Korean business groups plunged that much during 1996 due to the continuous "bearish bourse" in south Korea. This represents a 36.75 percent decrease in the market value of the stocks owned by these 30 monopoly capitalists. Of the 30 business heads, Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung, was subjected to the greatest individual loss with a decrease of 65.8 percent of his total stock portfolio, over $639 million worth. Lee's losses are largely attributed to the grave crisis faced by Samsung's main company stock issue, Samsung Electronic Co., which has seen its export sales and revenue plummet because of a huge drop in semiconductor demand in the global computer industry and vicious competition. Particularly damaging was a nosedive in the price of semiconductors and memory chips. For example, the price of a 16-megabit dynamic random access memory, DRAM, chip fell from last year's price tag of $50 a piece to just $8. Cho Choong-hoon, chairman of Hanjin, was next with his stock holdings plunging $151.38 million in value, a decrease of 45.5 percent. Daewoo's Kim Woo-choong followed with a loss of $139.86 million, a decline of 34.6 percent. Among the top 30 monopoly capitalists, Daewoo's Kim Woo-choong holds the largest amount in stocks, with some 26.5 million shares registered under his name. In an effort to stem the decline in the Korea Stock Exchange and to save the fortunes of these monopoly capitalists, the south Korean fascist government, several weeks ago, ordered the three main government pension funds to buy large amounts of the stocks issued by the biggest south Korean companies. The purchases were so enormous that they have temporarily stopped the decline in stock prices. In making this risky manoeuvre the south Korean puppet government revealed its total allegiance to the monopoly capitalists and U.S. imperialists who also have much riding on the Korea Stock Exchange and south Korean monopolies. This same government just rammed through parliament a revised labor code that attacks the rights and standard of living of the Korean working class. The worldwide economic crisis is particularly hitting the "Tiger economies" of South-east Asia. Their economies are tightly tied with the big imperialists and have very little internal strength. Any drop in global market demand or increase in competition is extremely damaging to the overall viability of these economies. In addition, the most powerful imperialists are quite capable of shifting any economic difficulties onto the backs of their puppets. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]