02-28-2017, 08:29 PM
I know we think of Samsung as a consumer products company, and can admire their technological prowess, but they're basically the Korean mob.
Lee's father was also accused (and convicted) of government bribery, but was pardoned by a previous Korean president, despite the elder Mr. Lee denying any culpability. No great surprise the younger Mr. Lee has continued in his father's footsteps. For years, Samsung has basically been above the law in South Korea; will this time be any different?
NYT wrote: Samsung, by far the largest of the chaebol, has long been a symbol of power and wealth in a nation that has transformed itself from an agrarian economy to one of the world’s technological powerhouses. Samsung’s market capitalization accounts for one-fourth of the value of all listed companies in South Korea, and its main unit, Samsung Electronics, alone ships 20 percent of the country’s total exports.
Mr. Lee was accused of giving or promising $38 million in bribes to Choi Soon-sil, a secretive confidante of [South Korean President] Ms. Park. In return, the prosecutor said in his indictment, Mr. Lee received political favors, most notably government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that helped him inherit corporate control from his incapacitated father, Lee Kun-hee.
Lee's father was also accused (and convicted) of government bribery, but was pardoned by a previous Korean president, despite the elder Mr. Lee denying any culpability. No great surprise the younger Mr. Lee has continued in his father's footsteps. For years, Samsung has basically been above the law in South Korea; will this time be any different?
