Update: BBC and Reuters report that South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been removed from office. The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment in an 8-0 decision.
Samsung Group's vice chairman and "de facto leader" Jay Y. Lee and four other executives have denied the charges against them in what is being called South Korea's "trial of the century":
Five executives at Samsung, including the conglomerate's de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, formally denied bribery charges against them on Thursday, in a preliminary hearing for a trial with the potential to shake South Korea.
Mr. Lee, who also goes by the name Jay Y. Lee, and the other executives face charges that strike at the heart of the deep ties between the South Korean government and powerful family-controlled businesses, a source of growing public resentment. Parliament voted in December to impeach President Park Geun-hye over accusations of corruption and other abuses of power, and she could be formally removed from office soon.
But the related arrest of Mr. Lee, scion of the country's biggest and most profitable conglomerate, or chaebol, is a momentous turn in itself. Chaebol bosses, including Mr. Lee's father, have been convicted in previous corruption cases, but punishments have usually been light or commuted. Many see Mr. Lee's trial as a test of whether South Korea can change by abandoning longstanding deference to the business clans that have dominated the country's glittering economic rise. The chief prosecutor has said it could be the "trial of the century."
Previously: Samsung Vice Chairman a Suspect in South Korean Presidential Bribery Probe
Warrant Sought for the Arrest of Samsung's Vice Chairman
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday March 10 2017, @02:53AM (2 children)
Damn, i want to be a cult. I should buy some Trump bookz.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @03:28AM (1 child)
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Jim Jones and Mussolini
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality
Neon lights, a Penthouse High-rise
Then a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Kony
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality
Neon lights a Penthouse High-rise
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set you free
You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You gave me power in your own god's name
I'm every person you need to be
Oh, I'm the cult of personality
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of personality
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @06:42PM
Why is the bar always set so low for Trump? Fewer than a thousand deaths can be attributed to Jim Jones.