Lee Jae-yong (center), vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives at a court for a trial in his bribery scandal involving former South Korean president Park Geun-hye in Seoul on January 18, 2021. AFP PHOTO
SEOUL: The de facto chief of South Korea's Samsung business empire was jailed for two and a half years on Monday over a sprawling corruption scandal, Yonhap news agency reported, in a ruling that deprives the tech giant of its top decision-maker.