美国国家公共电台 NPR What A Tech Leader's Corruption Conviction Means For Samsung And South Korea（在线收听）

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A court in South Korea has found the leader of Samsung guilty in a corruption case involving South Korea's former president. A Seoul court sentenced the billionaire, Jay Y. Lee, to five years in prison just hours ago. NPR's Elise Hu has been covering this from Seoul, and she joins us now to talk about the verdict. Hi, Elise.

ELISE HU, BYLINE: Hey there.

CHANG: So what exactly is Jay Y. Lee, the leader of Samsung - what is he going to prison for?

HU: A string of corruption charges - they include bribery, embezzlement and perjury. And Lee is ensnared in the scandal that led to the historic impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye, who was South Korea's former president. At issue for Lee was whether he helped donate Samsung money to nonprofit slush funds started by the president's close aide in exchange for government support of a controversial merger. That merger was later approved. And it was seen as good for family control of the company but widely seen as not great for shareholders.

And ultimately, the court ruled there was sufficient evidence that bribery was involved there. Samsung has responded with a note from Jay Y. Lee's lawyer saying that they will not accept this decision and they're confident that they can get him acquitted on appeal.

CHANG: What does this conviction mean for Samsung's business, though?

HU: Well, in terms of the bottom line, possibly very little. Lee has been jailed, actually, for months as this trial has gone on. And during that time, Samsung's business has been booming. It just released its new Galaxy S8 phone, its flagship phone; marked its strongest quarter; and overtook Apple as the world's most profitable tech company.

But Ailsa, this conviction does raise some bigger questions about the company's long-term direction, its leadership and whether the group should really continue to be this family-run dynasty. Lee is the third-generation head of this giant publicly traded conglomerate. And critics here argue that that kind of governance is outdated.

CHANG: I mean, yeah, Samsung is South Korea's largest conglomerate. It not only makes electronics, it's also involved in shipping, insurance, pharmaceuticals, department stores. I mean, its reach is huge. So how does this very public downfall of its chairman reverberate throughout South Korea?

HU: Well, that's a great question. And that's exactly why it was closely watched by the public here because these chaebol, as they're called here, dominate the economy in South Korea. The word chaebol literally translates to wealth clan.

CHANG: Wow.

HU: And Samsung is the largest and most significant example of that. South Korea's economic miracle, leapfrogging from poverty to, now, one of the wealthiest nations in the world within a generation really happened because of chaebol or on the backs of chaebol. Government and these conglomerates were very, very closely linked. But in recent years, you know, there's been a lot more criticism of this because chaebols really seemed to get out of trouble really easily. And they've really become avatars for cronyism and corporate excess.

CHANG: All right. That's NPR's Elise Hu speaking to us from Seoul, South Korea. Thank you, Elise.

HU: You bet.