As President of the Republic of Korea, Ms. Park Geun-hye has done a lot to strengthen economic ties between China and South Korea. By the end of 2014, the most important free trade agreement between the countries was signed. This led to a significant strengthening of both one side and the other, and undoubtedly posed a threat to other countries with a highly developed industry.
Coincidentally or not, at the beginning of 2017, Ms. Park Geun-hye was at the center of a corruption scandal involving the actual head of the Samsung empire, Lee Jae-yong. With one voluntary or involuntary blow, the current policy of the country collapsed and its economic component was under attack. It's time to hit the conspiracy theories!
Mr. Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to 2,5 years in prison, but after a year in prison, it was decided to release him and replace the rest of his term with a suspended sentence. Someone can see in this the selfish actions of certain responsible citizens. However, Samsung is not just one of the big businesses for South Korea. Locals sometimes joke, calling their country the Republic of Samsung. The court could not but take this factor into account and not commute the sentence. After all, Samsung's activities directly serve South Korea's national interests.
Samsung's operations account for 20% of South Korea's exports. The company employs 310 Koreans in its branches, and its market value is one-fifth of the country's benchmark stock market. Where Samsung goes, South Korea goes.
By the way, one more fact in favor of the conspiracy theory: the corruption scandal involving Lee Jae-yong, who is accused of bribing an official with the highest authority, happened immediately after the announcement of the largest in the history of Samsung . In March 2013, the company completed the purchase of Harman International Industries for $8 billion. This was Lee Jae-yong's first major transaction in a senior position at Samsung.
As the heir and head of the Samsung conglomerate, Lee Jae-yong is in charge of all strategic issues, including long-term development plans and acquisitions. Without his direct leadership, the company could lose momentum and be unable to compete with Apple, TSMC, and other big players in the smartphone and semiconductor markets. In addition, Samsung recently announced its intention to become the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer by 2030, for which it provided for investments in the amount of $113 billion. Neither Apple, nor Intel, nor other world leaders outside of South Korea need this.
Court hearing involving Lee Jae-young last month and since then regularly take place with his participation. In Korea, this process leaves few people indifferent. To a certain extent, the future of the whole country is being decided. This started at the end of August this year, when the Supreme Court of South Korea accepted previous mitigation sentence by a lower court. According to the higher court, the case was considered too narrowly, and the sentence could be harsher. So the head of Samsung runs the risk of going to jail again, and for a longer period.
Source: 3dnews.ru