jaebeol
Also written: chaebol; jaebol; ch’aebŏl; family conglomerate
A large South Korean business conglomerate controlled by a founding family through a network of affiliated companies. In popular drama usage, the word may also refer loosely to the family or heir connected to such a group.
Literal meaning
wealthy business clique or financial combine
Cultural context
Chaebol groups have played a major role in South Korea’s industrial development and economy. Their family control, succession structures, wealth, political influence, and corporate governance make them frequent subjects of public debate and fiction.
How dramas use it
K-dramas often turn the chaebol heir into a romantic lead or place a chaebol family at the center of succession fights, arranged marriages, inheritance disputes, boardroom conflict, and generational trauma.
Usage & formality
A chaebol is not simply any rich person or ordinary family business. Fandom sometimes uses the term loosely, but its economic meaning is more specific.