South Korean Court Sends Samsung Head Back to Jail for Bribery

三星掌门人李在镕重新入狱

 

South Korea’s appeals court has thrown Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong back in jail for bribery, in a landmark ruling that will leave the country’s biggest conglomerate without its top decision maker for a year-and-a-half.

 

韩国上诉法院以贿赂罪判处三星（Samsung）掌门人李在镕（Lee Jae-yong）再次入狱。这是一项具有里程碑意义的判决，将使这家韩国最大的企业集团在未来一年半的时间里失去最高决策者。

 

Seoul’s high court on Monday sentenced Lee to two-and-a-half years in prison following a retrial, although prosecutors had sought a nine-year term. The billionaire, who was immediately detained after the ruling, will only spend 18 months behind bars as he previously spent a year in prison before being released by an appeals court in 2018.

 

周一，韩国最高法院重审后判处李在镕两年半监禁，尽管检方要求判处9年。法院宣判后，这位亿万富翁立即被捕。他只需再服刑18个月，原因是他此前已服刑1年，于2018年被上诉法院释放。

 

The final ruling, which followed years of legal wrangling, is a setback for Samsung, whose electronics unit is the world’s biggest manufacturer of computer chips, smartphones and electronic displays.

 

这项经历了多年法律争斗的最终判决对三星而言是一个挫折。三星的电子部门是全球最大的电脑芯片、智能手机和电子显示屏制造商。

 

The case has been watched closely as a test of the government’s resolve in reforming South Korea’s powerful family-run conglomerates, known as chaebol.

 

此案一直受到密切关注，将检验政府改革韩国势力强大的家族经营企业（即财阀）的决心。

 

Samsung shares fell 3.4 per cent in Seoul trading on Monday.

 

周一，三星在首尔的股票下跌3.4%。

 

Lee’s retrial was held after the supreme court overturned a lower court’s ruling in 2019.

 

2019年，韩国最高法院推翻了下一级法院的判决，对本案发起重审。

 

The court said Lee had shown a willingness to make the group more transparent by setting up a stronger compliance committee but questioned its effectiveness.

 

最高法院表示，李在镕有意愿通过建立一个更强大的合规委员会，使该集团更加透明，但法院质疑其有效性。

 

Lee has been the de facto head of Samsung since 2014 when his father, and then chairman Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack. He formally took control of the group after his father died in October.

 

2014年其父亲、时任三星董事长李健熙（Lee Kun-hee）心脏病发作以后，李在镕成为三星事实上的掌门人。去年10月李健熙去世后，李在镕正式接管了三星。

 

Lee Jae-yong was originally convicted in 2017 and received a five-year jail term for bribing former president Park Geun-hye in an alleged attempt to secure control of Samsung. Park was impeached and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

 

李在镕最初于2017年被判有罪，因被控为获得三星控制权向前总统朴槿惠（Park Geun-hye）行贿而被判处5年监禁。朴槿惠受到弹劾，被判处20年监禁。

 

“Today’s ruling is too generous,” said Park Sang-in, an economics professor at Seoul National University. “He should have received at least a five-year prison sentence, given his serious crimes.”

 

“今天的判决太轻了。”首尔国立大学（Seoul National University）经济学教授Park Sang-in说，“考虑到他的严重罪行，他至少应该被判5年监禁。”

 

However, some analysts had expected a reprieve for Lee on Monday, given Samsung’s importance to the South Korean economy, which has been hit by coronavirus. “It is positive in that some judicial justice has been realised. Authorities seem to have struck a balance between economic growth and chaebol reform,” said Park Ju-geun, head of market research firm CEOScore.

 

然而，考虑到三星对受到新冠疫情打击的韩国经济的重要性，一些分析人士此前预测周一李在镕会获得缓刑。市场研究公司CEOScore负责人Park Ju-geun说：“这是积极的，因为一些……司法公正已经实现了。政府似乎已经找到了经济增长和财阀改革之间的平衡。”

 

Lee In-jae, Lee’s lawyer, expressed regret over the court’s decision following the ruling. “The case is about the former president abusing her power and intruding on corporate freedom and (Samsung’s) property rights.”

 

判决后，李在镕的律师Lee In-jae对法庭的决定表示遗憾。“此案的重点应该是前总统滥用职权，侵犯企业自由和（三星的）财产权。”

 

Lee’s imprisonment comes at a critical juncture for Samsung, which is accelerating its push into technologies such as artificial intelligence and parts for autonomous vehicles.

 

李在镕入狱正值三星处在一个关键节点——三星正加速挺进人工智能、自动驾驶汽车零部件等领域的技术。

 

It is expected to put on hold Lee’s plans to reorganise Samsung’s sprawling business interests. The Lee family faces a tax bill of up to $10bn that is expected to trigger a series of complex share sales at non-core units. “The group-wide restructuring and its aggressive investments in new businesses are likely to be on hold,” said Mr Park at CEOScore.

 

外界预计，李在镕对三星庞杂的商业利益进行重组的计划将被搁置。李氏家族面临高达100亿美元的税单，预计这将引发一系列复杂的非核心业务股份出售。CEOScore的Park Ju-geun表示：“涉及整个集团的重组以及对新业务的投资都很有可能被搁置。”

 

President Moon Jae-in, a former human rights lawyer entering the final 12 months of a five-year term, on Monday sought to defend his attempts to reform powerful family-owned conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai, which dominate South Korea’s economy.

 

韩国总统文在寅（Moon Jae-in）——这名前人权律师正步入五年总统任期的最后12个月——周一试图为自己的计划辩护。他寻求改革三星、现代（Hyundai）等影响力巨大的由家族所有的企业集团，这些集团在韩国的经济中占据主导地位。

 

Asked by the Financial Times whether these reforms had failed, Mr Moon pointed to amendments by his government to corporate and labour laws designed to strengthen the rights of smaller shareholders and workers, respectively.

 

当被英国《金融时报》问及这些改革是否已经失败时，文在寅提到其政府推动了企业法和劳工法的修正案，两份修正案旨在强化小股东和员工的权利。

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