SEOUL As the Samsung group's de facto chief stares down five years in prison for corruption, the fusion of politics and business that has long powered South Korea's economy faces a reckoning of its own as public sentiment turns firmly against the nation's largest businesses.
Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is the latest to fall in a scandal that led to the removal of South Korean President Park Geun-hye several months ago. The heir to the massive family-run conglomerate, or chaebol, was convicted on Aug. 25 of instructing four former Samsung executives to direct company funds to nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of Park, at the then-president's behest.
