Lee Jae-yong , heir to the empire Samsung and grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul, must return to prison for two years and six months to serve a bribery charge. The story originates in 2017, when the son of President Lee Kun-hee (who died last October) ended up for the first time once in prison due to a scandal involving then South Korean President Park Geun-hye (sentenced to 20 years). Lee served only one year in prison out of the five established by the judges (prosecutors initially asked 12 years), then in August 2019 fu ordered a new trial .

Lee was accused of offering horses and other bribes to a friend of the former South Korean president to win government support for his Samsung leadership succession and the green light to merge two divisions of Samsung. Last May the heir of the dynasty publicly apologized for what he had done, pledging not to hand over control of the colossus to his sons .

The sentence could create a power vacuum at the top of the Asian giant and have repercussions on any strategic decisions, even if the company is currently managed by a group of senior executives. Lee’s lawyer spoke of the “deplorable” decision, but Lee’s legal woes are not over yet as he is also on trial for alleged fraud and stock manipulation.