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

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A court in South Korea has found the leader of Samsung guilty in a corruption¹ 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, BYLINE²: 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 bribery³, embezzlement⁴ and perjury⁵. And Lee is ensnared in the scandal that led to the historic impeachment⁶ 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 merger⁷. That merger was later approved. And it was seen as good for family control of the company but widely seen as not great for shareholders⁸.

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 acquitted⁹ 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 Galaxy¹⁰ 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 conglomerate¹¹. And critics here argue that that kind of governance is outdated¹².

CHANG: I mean, yeah, Samsung is South Korea's largest conglomerate. It not only makes electronics, it's also involved in shipping¹³, insurance, pharmaceuticals¹⁴, department stores. I mean, its reach is huge. So how does this very public downfall of its chairman reverberate¹⁵ 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 literally¹⁶ translates to wealth clan¹⁷.

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 conglomerates¹⁸ 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 cronyism¹⁹ and corporate²⁰ excess.

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

HU: You bet.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

4 embezzlement   

n.盗用，贪污

参考例句：

• He was accused of graft and embezzlement and was chained and thrown into prison.他因被指控贪污盗窃而锒铛入狱。
• The judge sent him to prison for embezzlement of funds.法官因他盗用公款将其送入监牢。

5 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

6 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

7 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

10 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

11 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

12 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

13 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

14 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 reverberate   

v.使回响，使反响

参考例句：

• The decision will reverberate and will jar the country.这项决定将引起反响并震撼这个国家。
• Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my hear.痛苦呼喊的一遍遍的在我的心中回响。

16 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

17 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

18 conglomerates   

n.（多种经营的）联合大企业( conglomerate的名词复数 )；砾岩；合成物；组合物

参考例句：

• At the surface, radioactivity of the conglomerates is locally as high as 30 X background. 在地表，砾岩的局部地段的放射性高达30倍本底值。 来自辞典例句
• The conglomerates failed to understand that books could not be sold like soap. 这些联合大企业不懂卖书不象卖肥皂那样。 来自辞典例句

19 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

20 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。