South Korea's parliament voted yesterday to set up an independent inquiry into claims that the nation's biggest business group Samsung operated a huge bribery operation.
Legislators from all parties voted 155-17 for a bill to appoint an independent counsel despite objections from the government, which said such an inquiry would tarnish Samsung and the country.
State prosecutors have already launched a separate investigation into claims by a former employee that Samsung had created a slush fund to bribe hundreds of prosecutors, officials and journalists.
The South Korean giant denies the allegations.
"An independent counsel is feared to seriously hurt the reputation of [Samsung] and our country," Justice Minister Chung Soung-jin told parliament's judicial committee earlier in the day, urging politicians to wait for the outcome of the prosecutors' probe.
Samsung wields enormous influence in South Korea, to the extent that some critics refer to it as the "Republic of Samsung."
Group-wide assets are valued at US$280.8 billion and its exports were worth US$66.3 billion last year, more than 20 percent of the nation's total.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has hinted at a veto of the bill, saying an independent counsel could conflict with the prosecution probe.
Apart from the slush fund claims, the bill calls for a probe into illegal funds provided during and after the last presidential election.
Some campaign managers for Roh and for his then-opponent Lee Hoi-chang, now an independent presidential candidate, were jailed in 2004 for taking illegal campaign funds from Samsung.
Samsung said the probe could damage its business at a tough time.
"It is very regrettable that Samsung faces a probe by an independent counsel at a time when its business environment is not good," a group statement said. "We are very concerned that it may aggravate our difficulties next year."
The bill authorizes an independent counsel, to be recommended by an association of lawyers, to lead a team comprising three assistants and 30 investigators for a two-month inquiry.
It would also authorize investigations into suspicions that group boss Lee Kun-hee illegally traded shares of its subsidiaries to transfer ownership to his son.
In 2005 two Samsung executives were given suspended jail terms after being convicted of illegally handling the father-to-son transfer of ownership.
The slush fund claims were made by Kim Yong-chul, who headed the group's in-house legal team for seven years until 2004.
Kim said he himself had bribed prosecutors on behalf of Samsung and accused it of hiding slush funds in the bank accounts of executives. He has produced no evidence in public, and Samsung has described the claims as groundless.
Two executives are suing the former lawyer for defamation.
However, Samsung was hit again last week after a former legal aide to Roh said one of its officials offered him a cash bribe hidden inside a book in 2004. He said he rejected it.
Samsung and other giant groups known as chaebol spearheaded the nation's dramatic rise from postwar poverty to prosperity. But their reckless expansion was partly blamed for triggering the financial crisis of 1997.
Top conglomerates have often been accused of cozy ties to politicians and of a lack of transparency.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College