When trouble brews in corporate Korea, it seems the answer these days is to get out the cheque book.

First Newbridge Capital, a US private equity fund, did it. Then Samsung, a Korean electronics conglomerate, felt generous. Yesterday, executives from Hyundai Motor, South Korea's biggest car maker, and Lone Star, a US buy-out firm, joined in, pledging to make large donations to society as they seek to quell escalating public scandals.