Economics

Samsung Raid Turns Spotlight on Companies' Role in Korea Scandal

  • Prosecutors seeking evidence of potential illegal gifts
  • President Park embroiled in influence-peddling scandal
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The influence-peddling scandal shadowing South Korean President Park Geun-hye is raising fresh questions about decades of cozy ties between the nation’s big conglomerates and those in power.

Successive governments -- including Park’s administration -- have pledged to curb the influence of the companies, often family-run, known as chaebols. That’s amid public disquiet about how much they affect policy making and, in turn, how strongly and openly they are regulated.