Lee Jae-yong: paroled leader of S. Korea’s biggest business

Seoul: The life of soon-to-be-released Samsung chief and South Korean billionaire Lee Jae-yong epitomises the privileges, power and perils of the super-rich in the world’s 12th-largest economy, a country sometimes dubbed the “Republic of Samsung”.

Best known internationally as one of the world’s largest smartphone and chipmakers via flagship subsidiary Samsung Electronics, at home the wider group pervades every facet of life — and even death — from homebuilding to funeral parlours via health care and theme parks.