Samsung bribe trial to start

Samsung Group leader Jay Y Lee will go on trial for bribery and embezzlement next Thursday, a court has said, amid a corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea and led to the impeachment of the country’s president.

Mr Lee, the 48-year-old third-generation leader of the country’s top conglomerate, was indicted on Tuesday on charges including pledging 43bn won (€35.2m) in payments to a confidant of President Park Geun-hye.

“We are preparing hard, thinking that the upcoming Samsung trial... could be the trial of the century that the entire world will be watching,” special prosecutor Park Young-soo told reporters.