Lee Myung-bak Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison on Appeal... Denies Charges in Final Statement (Comprehensive)

"No Reason to Establish Company Under Another's Name or Create Slush Fund"
"Anyone Can Be Made a Murderer According to Prosecutors' Investigation"
Prosecution: "No Remorse Until the End"... Court to Deliver Verdict on 19th Next Month

Former President Lee Myung-bak, who was indicted on charges including embezzlement of DAS funds and bribery and sentenced to 15 years in prison in the first trial, is attending the final hearing held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 8th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1, presided over by Chief Judge Junyoung Jung, which is handling the appeal trial of former President Lee Myung-bak's 'DAS scandal' case, concluded the one-year trial procedure on the 8th with the closing arguments. Since the first hearing in January last year, the trial has been conducted over 50 sessions up to the closing arguments on this day. The court has scheduled the verdict for the 19th of next month.

On this day, the prosecution requested a sentence of 17 years imprisonment, a fine of 25 billion KRW, and a confiscation of approximately 16.3 billion KRW for the bribery charges involving Samsung against the former president. For the remaining charges, including embezzlement of DAS funds, they requested a sentence of 6 years imprisonment and a fine of 7 billion KRW. In total, this amounts to 23 years imprisonment and a fine of 32 billion KRW. The first trial sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment, a fine of 13 billion KRW, and confiscation of approximately 8.2 billion KRW. Former President Lee, who had been detained in custody, was released on bail in March last year and has been undergoing trial without detention.

The prosecution stated, "Until the last day of the fact-finding trial, the former president did not offer a genuine apology or reflection and shifted responsibility onto his aides who worked for him," adding, "It is necessary to punish the former president's anti-constitutional acts to establish the foundation of the rule of law." On the other hand, the defense argued, "The former president was completely unaware of the charges brought against him and bears no responsibility in this case," and "The prosecution is requesting a verdict based on coerced statements without any physical evidence."

In his final statement, the former president said, "I have absolutely no reason to establish a company under a borrowed name or to create slush funds," and "Watching the prosecution's indictment and investigation process, I thought, 'Even without killing a person, they can make me a murderer.'" He continued, "This trial is not about Lee Myung-bak as an individual but will be a trial to gauge whether justice lives in this country regarding a case clearly prosecuted with intent."

Former President Lee was arrested and indicted in April 2018 on charges including effectively controlling DAS's management, embezzling approximately 34.9 billion KRW, and causing Samsung Electronics to pay 6.7 billion KRW in DAS's U.S. lawsuit expenses on his behalf. During the appeal trial, an additional suspected bribe amount of approximately 5.1 billion KRW, given by Samsung under the name of DAS lawsuit expenses, was discovered, increasing the total bribery amount to about 11.9 billion KRW. The increase in the prosecution's requested sentence in the second trial is also due to the increase in the bribery amount. Previously, the prosecution had requested a sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of 15 billion KRW for the former president in the first trial.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.