Samsung heir's jailing heralds reform drive: analysts

Seoul

THE conviction and jailing of South Korea's top business tycoon heralds a drive to reform the country's giant conglomerates and loosen their grip on the economy, analysts said.

When Lee Jae-Yong, de facto head of the world's biggest smartphone maker Samsung Electronics, was jailed last Friday for bribing South Korea's former president and other offences, the Seoul court condemned "corrupt ties" between business leaders and politicians.

It is far from the the first time these links have been made public. South Korea's chaebols, or family-run conglomerates, have long enjoyed close, opaque ties to political authorities.

"There is a well-founded concern that Korean corporations have too much financial influence over the political system through favours and friendships," Robert Kell…