South Korea's Park would leave economy mired in challenges

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The heir to the Samsung empire and other tycoons took a public drubbing by lawmakers Tuesday over deep-rooted ties between politics and business that helped drive South Korea's economic ascent but are central to its political crisis.

The questioning on national TV of Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, 48-year-old only son of the company's ailing chairman, and eight other business leaders was in response to prosecution claims that President Park Geun-hye allowed a corrupt confidante to pull government strings and extort big sums from companies.

The bright expectations for Park when she took office nearly four years ago promising a "happy era" of entrepreneurship and greater equality have dimmed to deep disappointment as the country's biggest political scandal has unfolded.

Household debts have surged to a record high while the youth unemployment rate peaked at a record-high 12.5 percent in February and stood at 8.5 percent in October.

[...] Park Geun-hye inherited a more mature economy, lacking the dynamism of her father's era, at a more challenging time for global growth.

Other policy initiatives like the "creativity economy" policy of promoting entrepreneurship likewise have made little headway, said Kim Sang-jo, executive director of a non-governmental business watchdog, Solidarity for Economic Reform.