双语｜为什么韩国赦免了三星的“皇太子”李在镕

Lee Jae-yong: Why South Korea just pardoned the Samsung 'prince'

图片来源盖蒂图片社：Protesters had once focused on Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong in anti-corruption demonstrations

上图：抗议者曾经在反腐败示威中点名三星继承人李在镕

三星继承人李在镕 - 于2017年被判犯有贿赂和贪污罪 - 已获得总统特别赦免。

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong - convicted of bribery and embezzlement in 2017 - has been granted a special presidential pardon.

作为韩国最有权势的白领罪犯之一，李在镕因贿赂一名前总统而两次入狱。

One of South Korea's most powerful white collar criminals, Lee was twice imprisoned for bribing a former president.

韩国政府为此解释到，该国最大的公司（三星）的实际领导人需要重新掌舵，以引领大流行后的经济复苏。

South Korea's government justified the move, saying the de-facto leader of the country's biggest company was needed back at the helm to spearhead economic recovery post-pandemic.

这标志着自六年前大规模抗议活动席卷首尔并迫使总统下台以来，该国如何运作如何反腐的斗争又一次出现摇摆。

This marks another swing in a struggle over how the country is run that has raged since mass protests took over Seoul six years ago and ousted a president from office.

李的罪行与腐败丑闻直接相关，导致2013年至2017年在任的前总统朴槿惠（Park Geun-Hye）入狱。

Lee's crimes were directly tied up in the corruption scandal that led to the imprisonment of former president Park Geun-Hye, in office from 2013-2017.

抗议者称这位“三星王储”为“三星皇太子”——向朴槿惠总统及其亲信支付了800万美元（660万英镑）的贿赂，以获得股东反对的合并支持，这将加强他对家族帝国的控制。

The "Crown Prince of Samsung" - as he was dubbed by protesters - paid $8 million ( 6.6m) in bribes to President Park and her associate to secure support for a merger opposed by shareholders that would shore up his control of his family's empire.

此事被揭露后，2016年到2017年冬季，数百万韩国人每个周末都举行烛光抗议活动，要求朴槿惠下台并结束政商勾结。

When it was revealed, millions of South Koreans turned out at candlelit protests every weekend in the 2016/2017 winter, demanding an end to Park's government and the stitch-up between politics and business.

Millions of people attended the protests against President Park and her corruption

上图：数百万人参加了反对朴槿惠总统及其腐败的抗议活动

韩国议会弹劾朴槿惠，她于2017年入狱被判监禁25年。

Korea's parliament impeached Park and she was imprisoned in 2017 for 25 years.

李在西方也被称为Jay Y Lee，一年后因挪用公司资金为总统朋友的女儿购买一匹价值80万美元（65万英镑）的马而被判入狱。

Lee, who is also known as Jay Y Lee in the West, was jailed a year later for offences including embezzling company funds to buy a $800,000 ( 650,000) horse for the president's friend's daughter.

新总统文在寅（Moon Jae-in）上任后，肩负着收拾烂摊子的使命。但他没有取得多大进展。在他担任总统的最后几天里，他赦免了他的前任。

A new president, Moon Jae-in swept into office with a mandate to clean up the mess. But he failed to make much headway. In his last days as president, he granted a pardon to his predecessor.

现在八个月后，在另一位新总统的领导下，三星的首席执行官也得到了同样的宽大处理。

Now eight months later, under another new president, Samsung's chief has also received the same clemency.

对于那些一直在与腐败作斗争的人来说，这是一个令人沮丧的打击。

For those who have been fighting against corruption, it's a dispiriting blow.

“这是一个挫折。这意味着韩国（对官商勾结和腐败的态度）倒退到烛光示威活动之前的时间，“首尔国立大学（Seoul National University）经济学和产业政策教授朴山金（Sangin Park）说。

"It is a setback. And it means Korea retreats to the time before the candlelit demonstrations," said Sangin Park, an economics and industrial policy professor at Seoul National University.

“章鱼”的影响

'Octopus' influence

李的案例再次证实了一个流行的观念，即商业领袖是不可触碰的，凌驾于法律之上的。

Lee's case reaffirms popular conception that business leaders are untouchable and above the law.

在韩国，大型企业集团主导着经济，前10大企业约占GDP的80%。它们被称为财阀，是家族控制的帝国，提供广泛的服务。LG，现代，乐天和SK就是其中之一。

但三星是其中最大，最强大的一家。

In Korea, giant conglomerates dominate the economy, with the top 10 accounting for about 80% of GDP. Known as chaebols, they are family-controlled empires which provide a span of services. LG, Hyundai, Lotte, and SK are among them.

But Samsung is the biggest and most powerful of them all.

Lee was first jailed for bribery and corruption in 2017 - but then was later released from jail twice.

上图：李在2017年首次因贿赂和腐败而入狱 - 但后来两次被释放出狱。

作为全球最大的智能手机制造商，它是一个全球性的电子品牌。但在韩国国内，它涉猎更大的范围----医院、酒店、保险计划、广告牌、造船厂甚至主题公园。

As the world's largest smartphone maker, it's a global electronics brand. But at home it does much more - hospitals, hotels, insurance plans, billboards, shipyards and even theme parks.

三星和其他财阀无处不在，它们被称为“章鱼”公司，多伦多大学政治社会学家YoonKyung Lee教授说。

Samsung and other chaebols are so omnipresent they're known as "octopus" firms, says Prof YoonKyung Lee, a political sociologist at the University of Toronto.

这些触角早已潜入韩国政治的最高层。李教授参加了2016年的抗议活动，并表示大部分愤怒是针对朴槿惠总统的个人行为。但她表示，劳工活动人士和其他人努力强调财阀对政府的巨大影响。

And those tentacles have long wormed their way into the highest levels of Korean politics. Prof Lee was at the 2016 protests and says most of the anger was directed at President Park's personal actions. But she said labour activists and others strove to highlight the chaebols' outsize influence on government.

朝鲜战争后，财阀得到了政府的大力支持。他们获得了更便宜的电力和税收优惠，有“购买韩国”政策，甚至有助于压制工会运动。

Chaebols were heavily supported by the government after the Korean War. They were given cheaper electricity and tax incentives, there was a "Buy-Korea" policy and even help in suppressing union movements.

但由此产生的垄断也粉碎了竞争，扼杀了劳工运动，他们的做法在数十年里催生了贿赂和腐败案件。

But the resulting monopolies also crushed competition, stifled labour movements and their practices spawned decades of bribery and corruption cases.

李教授说，在许多情况下，高管们被判处轻刑或缓刑。在一些案件中，法官们表示，如果财阀领导人被限制行动，经济可能会受到影响。

In many cases, Prof Lee said, executives were given light or suspended sentences. In some cases judges said the economy might suffer if a chaebol leader was taken out of action.

李先生自己的父亲李坤熙在1990年代担任三星董事长时被判犯有贿赂和欺诈罪。但他没有服刑一天。

Mr Lee's own father, Lee Kun-hee was convicted of bribery and fraud in the 1990s when he was Samsung chairman. But he didn't serve a single day of jail time.

因此，在2017年，当他的儿子被判处5年监禁时，活动人士希望此案能成为一个转折点。

So in 2017, when his son was hauled away to a cell on a five-year sentence, activists hoped the case would mark a turning point.

进出监狱

In and out of jail

然而，庆祝是短暂的。李的法庭斗争拖了多年，曲折不堪，值得最具戏剧性的韩国连续剧奖。

Celebration however was short lived. Lee's court battle dragged on for years with twists and turns worthy of the most dramatic Korean serials.

上诉法院释放了他，上级法院随后下令重审，他再次被判有罪并被判入狱。

An appeals court released him, a higher court then ordered a retrial at which he was again found guilty and jailed.

但就在他第二次入狱几个月后，文在寅政府以假释方式释放了他，称这符合国家利益。

But just a few months into his second jail term, the Moon government released him on parole, saying it was in the national interest.

从那时起，他以三星的公众形象回归 – 今年五月，在美国总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）对韩国进行贸易访问时与拜登会面。

Since then, he has returned as the public face of Samsung - in May greeting US President Joe Biden on a trade visit to South Korea.

Lee has largely resumed his public duties as a Samsung executive, meeting with the US leader in Seoul in May

上图：李基本上恢复了他作为三星高管的职责，并于5月在首尔会见了美国领导人。

李仍然面临刑事指控 - 操纵公司估值，会计欺诈以及违反他的判决条件做出三星的商业决策。赦免意味着他将能够完全恢复他的行政职责。

Lee still faces criminal allegations - of rigging company valuations, accounting fraud and making Samsung business decisions in breach of his sentence conditions. Clemency means he will be able to fully resume his executive responsibilities.

它遵循一种模式，即财阀领导人的定罪被一笔勾销。

It follows a pattern of convicted chaebol leaders having their slates wiped clean.

“当谈到正式权力时，有总统办公室和国民议会 - 他们正在制定法律，”李教授说。

"When it comes to formal power, there's the president's office and the National Assembly - they're making the laws," Prof Lee said.

“但是，当涉及到政治影响力或文化影响力，甚至人们如何看待财阀在韩国社会中的重要性时，这实际上取决于保守派政治和商业精英的联盟，他们彼此都有利益关系。

"But when it comes to political influence or cultural influence or even how people think about the importance of chaebol in Korean society, it's really down to a coalition of conservative political and business elites who all have interests with each other."

分裂反应

Divided reaction

政府对李在镕的赦免是基于这样的观点，即财阀领导人是经济所必需的。但许多经济学家指出，这并没有得到确凿证据的支持。

The government's pardon of Lee rests on the argument that chaebol leaders are needed for the economy. But numerous economists have pointed out this isn't backed up by hard proof.

“历史上，对财阀实控人的赦免并没有促进经济增长或扭亏为盈，”朴教授说。

"The pardoning of chaebol controllers has not contributed to economic growth or turnaround historically," said Prof Park.

分析人士表示，在李一直在监狱里进进出出的期间，三星的表现非常好（并没有受到实控人坐牢的影响）。改革倡导者说，虽然韩国多年来一直增长缓慢，但也需要结束对财阀的依赖。

Analysts say Samsung has fared perfectly well while Lee has been in and out of prison. Reform advocates say South Korea, where growth has been slowing for years, also needs to end its dependence on chaebols.

“几项研究表明，越来越难获得'涓滴效应'*——现在是时候摆脱旧的观念了，即只要财阀做好了自己企业和经济的工作，他们所做的任何非法行为，都是'可以原谅的'。” 倡导组织经济改革团结委员会（Solidarity for Economic Reform）的律师卢钟华（Roh Jong-Hwa）说。

小编注：涓滴效应，又名渗漏效应，指在经济发展过程中并不给予贫困阶层，弱势群体或贫困地区特殊的优待，而是由优先发展起来的群体或地区通过消费就业等方面惠及贫困阶层或者地区，带动其发展和富裕。或者认为政府财政津贴可经过大企业再陆续流入小企业和消费者之手，从而更好地促进经济增长的理论。

"Several studies have shown that it's getting harder to get the 'trickle-down effect' - it's time to move away from the old notion that any illegal acts done by chaebols are 'forgivable' if they do their jobs," says Roh Jong-Hwa, a lawyer from an advocacy group Solidarity for Economic Reform.

尽管如此，批评者对李在镕被赦免的沮丧并没有在更广泛的韩国公众中得到认同。最近的一项民意调查显示，70%的人支持赦免。

Still the dismay among critics over Lee's pardoning is not shared among the broader South Korean public. A recent public poll recorded 70% support for the pardon.

如何解释这种支持？

How to explain that support?

专家说，解决腐败和财阀影响的愿望仍然存在。但它掺杂着对迫在眉睫的经济衰退的恐惧和担忧 - 以及对三星在世界舞台上代表着韩国的残存自豪感。

The desire to tackle corruption and chaebol influence remains, experts say. But it is mingled with fear and concerns over a looming recession - and residual pride over Samsung representing Korea on the world stage.

“有一个核心信念，如果三星做得很好，韩国也做得很好。韩国人在这个神话中生活了几十年，普通公民真的很难摆脱它，“李教授说。

"There's a core belief that if Samsung does well, Korea does well. And Koreans have lived with this myth for so many decades, it's really hard for ordinary citizens to break out of it," says Prof Lee.

“现在，在经济衰退期间，人们希望看到一些具体的迹象，表明我们正在向前迈进，而李被释放就是一个迹象。

"Right now, amid an economic downturn, people want to see some concrete sign that we are moving forward and Lee's release is a sign of that."

资料来源：英国广播公司韩国服务公司尤娜·库（Yuna Ku）

翻译：Mbl

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