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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Samsung's vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, aka Jay Y. Lee [wikipedia.org], has become a suspect in a corruption probe [reuters.com] linked to the South Korean President:

A South Korean special prosecutor's office will question Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee as a suspect in a widening influence-peddling scandal that may force President Park Geun-hye from office. Prosecutors have been looking into whether Samsung payments of about 30 billion won ($25 million) for a business and foundations backed by Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil, were connected to a 2015 decision by the national pension fund to back a controversial merger of two group affiliates.

Park could become South Korea's first democratically elected leader to leave office early after parliament voted in December to impeach her over the corruption scandal, which has triggered big weekly rallies calling for her to step down. The impeachment must be upheld or overturned by the Constitutional Court.

Meanwhile, protests against President Park Geun-hye, who has been impeached [soylentnews.org] but has resisted stepping down, are heating up [bbc.com]:

A Buddhist monk in South Korea has died after setting himself on fire in protest over a 2015 deal struck with Japan on wartime sex slaves. The monk, named as Venerable Jung-won, 64, staged the protest on Saturday [bbc.co.uk] at a rally against President Park Geun-hye. He died on Monday night at a hospital in Seoul due to multiple organ failures caused by his burns.

[...] In 2015, Ms Park reached a deal with Japan which saw it promise to pay into a fund for South Korean women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War Two. As part of the deal, the two countries agreed [bbc.co.uk] that the compensation and an apology would "finally and irreversibly" resolve the matter.

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