The heir to Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, was sentenced this Monday in Seoul to two and a half years in prison in a corruption scandal, reports the Yonhap agency, a decision that deprives the South Korean giant of its main leader.
Officially Vice President of Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of smartphones and memory chips, but in fact head of the conglomerate, Lee was convicted of corruption and embezzlement and immediately arrested, according to Yonhap.
Samsung It is by far the largest of the country’s “chaebols”, the family-controlled industrial conglomerates that dominate the 12th world economy. Its total turnover represents one-fifth of South Korean GDP, which is why it is crucial to the country’s economic health.
In 2017, Lee He was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption, embezzlement and other crimes related to the corruption scandal that led to the removal of the South Korean president Geun-hye Park (2013-2017), and his subsequent incarceration.
On appeal, most of the corruption charges were dismissed and Lee received a suspended jail sentence. But the Supreme Court ordered a new trial.
The case revolves around the millions of dollars paid by Samsung to the confidant in the shadow of the president, Choi Soon-sil, which according to the prosecution were intended to facilitate the transfer of power to the front of the conglomerate, due to the health problems of Lee Kun-hee, Lee’s father Jae-yong.
This scandal once again brings to light the connections between political power and the great families that control the “chaebols”, the conglomerates that favored the prodigious recovery after the Korean war.
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