5 ms·
Ok, this article quietly gets fucking wild halfway through. >> Samsung spent years evaluating where to build the new fab, courting multiple locations and pitti
by burnished 5y ago
Ok, this article quietly gets fucking wild halfway through.
>>
Samsung spent years evaluating where to build the new fab, courting multiple locations and pitting them against each other for better incentives. But the ultimate decision came down to Samsung Group's leader Jay Y. Lee, who was granted early parole in August expressly to speed up crucial business decisions like the Texas chip fab. Accounting for between 10 and 20 percent of the nation's GDP, Samsung is often given preferential treatment, with executives pardoned for crimes in the name of ensuring national economic growth.
In 2017, Lee was convicted of bribing a friend of then-President Park Geun-hye, and sentenced to five years in prison in Korea. His sentence was revised down to 30 months, of which he has served around 18 months.
The Samsung leader bribed Choi Soon-sil, a pseudo-Christian cult leader nicknamed "the Korean Rasputin," who may have helped decide government policy during the Park administration. Park denied she held shamanistic rituals at the presidential compound, but was removed from office following the scandal. She has since been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.
Lee gave Choi money and horses in an effort to ensure a merger within different subsidiaries of Samsung would pass, helping him solidify control over the company after his ailing father passed.
His father, Lee Kun-hee (who was also convicted of bribing a president, and subsequently pardoned), suffered a heart attack in 2014, and was left incapacitated as a result. But he was left technically in charge until his death last year.
With Lee now the group leader, he must sign off on all large merger and investment decisions, including US chip expansion plans.
- miohtama 5y agoThis is why I watch Korean dramas on Netflix. Juicey.
- bradhe 5y agoMan that just kept getting better and better.
- elzbardico 5y agoWhen I was a kid I was bullied by the kids calling me crazy, because of my overly imaginative approach to reality. Fast forward a lot of years later i look at reality and find out that the bullies had no clue at all. The real world is far more bizarre than any of the imaginary worlds I created in my mind during childhood
- nvr219 5y agoYou really think your imagination is the reason you got bullied?
- IMTDb 5y ago> my overly imaginative approach to reality I think he does
- glitchc 5y agoIsn’t there a douchebag contest you can compete in somewhere..? Away from here preferably?
- xibalba 5y agoHi, please read the HN comment guidelines. [1] Specifically, "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names." [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- beervirus 5y agoTruth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
- vadansky 5y agoI keep hearing about Park Geun-hye and all the crazy allegations, but it's always snippets like these or a reddit post, is there a good comprehensive resource that covers everything? Or should I wait for the eventual book to come out?
- kjuulh 5y agoIf you want to read something wild: Rooftop sword master. It is a wild fictional comic based in south korea. I believe it may be a bit of a commentary to what you've written.
- sixothree 5y ago> with executives pardoned for crimes in the name of ensuring national economic growth. Is that really so different from how things work here?
- quickthrowman 5y agoNope, it works like that here too. See Elon Musk and the SEC kid gloves treatment for an example of a similar situation in the US.
- sixothree 5y agoI feel like it makes it worse that it's regulatory decision and not a court decision. At least we know the reason for it in Korea.
- _jal 5y agoCriming USian overlords typically don't have to suffer the indignity of a conviction.
- syngrog66 5y ago> Lee gave Choi money and horses in an effort to note to the cryptokids: at least with using horses as currency you can pet them and ride them and race them for prizes!
- hermes8329 5y agoThat cult leader is a crazy story on its own. She killed a presidential nominee in a ritual Definitely check it out Oh and she used to be a popstar too
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago> She killed a presidential nominee in a ritual Any source on that one?
- hermes8329 5y agoI think I misremembered this case https://youtu.be/AibQvvuEsZo https://youtu.be/AibQvvuEsZo
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- markus_zhang 5y agoI bet some part of the US government has something to do with all these things. It's just we will never know until the change of tide. Reference: Propaganda Due was not exposed until the end of the cold war.
- abledon 5y agogreat find! But is it really that bizarre that someone who finds themselves thriving in an insanely high-stress and powerful position such as leader of Samsung, is involved in dishonest power games, as well as having an interest in Spiritual experiences? One can have everything available money can buy, but inward experiences can go largely unexplored.
- javajosh 5y agoThe allegation is of a corrupted spiritual experience, hence the Rasputin reference. It's one thing to go on a meditation retreat; its another to go on retreat and have the guru follow you home to advise you on policy when they learn you're powerful. Money corrupts spirituality, and it always has.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]