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takyon writes:

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been impeached:

South Korea's Parliament voted on Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye, an aloof conservative who took a hard line against North Korea and rose to power with strong support from those who revered her father, the military dictator Park Chung-hee. The vote against Ms. Park, the nation's first female leader, followed weeks of damaging disclosures in a corruption scandal that has all but paralyzed the government and produced the largest street protests in the nation's history. Her powers will now be suspended as the Constitutional Court considers whether to remove her from office.

Ms. Park has been accused of allowing a shadowy confidante, the daughter of a religious sect leader, to exercise remarkable influence on matters ranging from choosing top government officials to her wardrobe, and of helping her extort tens of millions of dollars from South Korean companies. The scandal, which gained national attention less than two months ago, has cast a harsh light on collusion between the presidency and big business in one of Asia's most dynamic economies.

Parliament's motion for impeachment, accusing Ms. Park of "extensive and serious violations of the Constitution and the law," will now be taken up by the Constitutional Court, which has six months to decide whether the charges are true and merit her ouster.

The impeachment bill passed 234-56.

Also at BBC, DW, and the Washington Post.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

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."

Also at CNN and The Verge.

Previously: Samsung Vice Chairman a Suspect in South Korean Presidential Bribery Probe
Warrant Sought for the Arrest of Samsung's Vice Chairman

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Ousted South Korean leader Park Geun-hye was behind bars in the Seoul Detention Centre on Friday after her arrest, on charges including bribery, in a corruption scandal that has brought low some of the country's business and political elite.

In a dramatic fall from power, Park, 65, became South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office. She is accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to contribute funds to foundations that backed her policy initiatives.

She and Choi, who is already in custody and on trial, deny any wrongdoing.

In the early hours of Friday, the Seoul Central District Court approved prosecutors' request for an arrest warrant for Park after she gave about eight hours of testimony.

Park and her lawyers had argued that she should not be arrested because she did not pose a flight risk and would not try to tamper with evidence. But the court disagreed, and said she might try to manipulate evidence.

Also at Straits Times, Korea Herald, and the Washington Post. Korea Times editorial.

Previously: South Korean President Park Geun-hye Impeached
President Park Geun-hye's Impeachment Upheld as South Korea's "Trial of the Century" Begins

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and "de facto chief" of Samsung Lee Jae-yong (aka Jay Y. Lee) has been sentenced to five years in prison for bribery, embezzlement, perjury, and other charges:

A South Korean court has found Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chief of the sprawling Samsung business empire, guilty of bribery and other corruption charges. Lee, the billionaire son of Samsung's ailing chairman, was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, well short of the 12-year sentence prosecutors had sought. The criminal conviction is a blow for Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker and South Korea's biggest family-run conglomerate whose businesses are estimated to account for around 15% of the country's entire economy.

The so-called "trial of the century" has gripped South Korea for months. It's part of a huge influence-peddling scandal that brought down the government of former President Park Geun-hye. "The public is disappointed that this kind of large-scale crime caused by cozy relations between politics and business still happens -- it's not in the past but remains a reality," Judge Kim Jin-dong said in court. He also laid some of the blame on Park, saying the former president made "aggressive demands" of Samsung.

[...] Samsung Electronics' (SSNLF) shares closed down 1.1% in Seoul following the verdict Friday. But the stock is still not far below the record high it hit last month. And although the guilty verdict is a black mark on Samsung's reputation, analysts said Lee's prison sentence is unlikely to affect the tech giant's day-to-day operations. The company has continued to post strong profits since he was first detained in the case.

Lee is following in the footsteps of many other chiefs of South Korea's big family-run conglomerates, known as chaebol. His father, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, was twice sentenced to prison -- and twice pardoned. Serving jail time "is like a rite of passage," David Kang, director of the University of Southern California's Korean Studies Institute, said in an interview before the verdict was announced. "The question will really be how long does he serve."

Lee will appeal the conviction.

Also at Bloomberg (opinion) and NPR (analysis).

Previously: Warrant Sought for the Arrest of Samsung's Vice Chairman
Samsung Vice Chairman a Suspect in South Korean Presidential Bribery Probe
President Park Geun-hye's Impeachment Upheld as South Korea's "Trial of the Century" Begins
Samsung Vice Chairman Ruling Expected on August 25

Original Submission