Really is criminal company
SEOUL, South Korea — The de facto leader of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, was arrested Friday on bribery charges, a dramatic turn in South Korea’s decades-old struggle to end collusive ties between the government and powerful family-controlled conglomerates.
Mr. Lee, Samsung’s vice chairman, was taken to a jail outside Seoul, the capital, soon after a judge at the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant early Friday.
He is accused of paying $36 million in bribes to President Park Geun-hye’s secretive confidante, Choi Soon-sil, in return for political favors. Those are alleged to include government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that helped Mr. Lee, 48, inherit corporate control from his incapacitated father, Lee Kun-hee, the chairman.
Samsung, whose market capitalization accounts for one-fourth of the value of all listed companies in South Korea, is a potent national symbol of power, wealth and technological innovation. Mr. Lee is the first head of the conglomerate ever to be arrested on corruption charges. Other charges against him include embezzlement, illegal transfer of property abroad and committing perjury during a parliamentary hearing.
GLGt: Samsung heir got arrested for bribery
