The head of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, has been arrested after allegations surfaced months ago that the Samsung group donated millions of dollars to a close confidante of President Park Geun-hye.

CGTN’s Joseph Kim reports.

The arrest has been causing a divide in the Republic of Korea: many people hope it will bring an era of good corporate governance, others are worried troubles at Samsung could weigh on the wider economy.

“Samsung Group is as big as the next 30 companies combined, so Samsung is absolute in South Korea. Their norms, their decisions and their market rules becomes South Korea’s rules, so Samsung changing changes South Korea’s economy. That’s how absolute their influence is,” Park Ju-Gun, CEO of Score, a research firm, said.

South Korea has relied on the family-owned conglomerate businesses to boost the economy. However, the dominance of such big companies has lead to concerns over transparency and accountability.

The probe into Lee Jae-yong is part of a larger investigation into President Park Geun-hye who is awaiting a verdict on her impeachment by the Constitutional Court.

After a previous failed attempt, Special Prosecutors were able to get a warrant to arrest Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong on new charges and evidence. Prosecutors are hopeful this will turn the tables and build a stronger case against Park Geun-hye.