A corruption scandal is hitting global electronics company Samsung and members of the South Korean Government as allegations of bribery are level across the board.

From Newsweek:

One of Asia’s pre-eminent family empires is under assault. Samsung (often called the Republic of Samsung, thanks to its dominant role in the South Korean economy) is at the vortex of a swirling corruption scandal set in motion last month by the group’s former chief attorney. Kim Young Chul, 49, claims that from 1997 to 2004, Samsung bribed scores of senior politicians, journalists, bureaucrats and court officials (among them the country’s sitting chief prosecutor) to win favors for the business. The allegations gained new import last week when South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun announced that he would appoint a special investigator to probe the nation’s largest conglomerate. Hours later, several senior Samsung execs, among them the group’s 65-year-old chairman, Lee Kun Hee, were reportedly barred from leaving the country.

Any impact on the business of Samsung would have dire results on the economic health of South Korea.

Last year Samsung’s sales topped $160 billion, some 15 percent of South Korean GDP. The group currently generates a fifth of the country’s exports, employs 250,000 people globally and ranks 21st on Interbrand’s list of top brands, with a “brand value” of $17 billion.

South Korea is listed at $14.2 Billion on the Havocscope Country Illicit Market Index.