Lee Jae-yong Denies Charges in First Trial Over 'Management Succession Allegations'... "Disagree with Prosecutors' Perspective"

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who was indicted on suspicion of management succession, completely denied the prosecution's allegations at the first trial.

Lee's lawyer stated at the hearing held on the 22nd at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25 (Presiding Judge Lim Jeong-yeop), "We cannot agree at all with the prosecution's view that the merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T and the accounting treatment of Samsung Biologics, which are normal business activities, constitute crimes." Other current and former Samsung Group executives, including Choi Ji-hoon, Chairman of the Samsung C&T Board, also denied charges such as violation of the Capital Markets Act. Like Lee's side, they argued, "The merger at that time was a normal business activity, and there was no act against our duties."

The defense team also claimed that due to the vast amount of prosecution investigation records, there are parts they have not yet been able to review or copy, so it will take considerable time until the admission or denial of evidence. The lawyer said, "The records amount to 190,000 pages," and "It will take at least three months to review the records and present specific opinions."

The prosecution did not read the summary of the charges since this hearing was a preparatory session, not a formal trial. However, the defense argued that since the investigation process involves major issues and the case has significant social and economic impact, a swift trial is necessary. They also requested the court to proceed with the hearings while monitoring progress during this period rather than postponing for three months.

The court decided to hold the second preparatory hearing on January 14 next year. It also asked the prosecution to prepare to read the summary of charges and requested the defense to submit written opinions on the evidence at least one week before the next preparatory hearing. The court further stated that it will decide later whether to consolidate this trial with the recent case involving Kim Tae-han, CEO of Samsung Biologics, who was additionally indicted for allegedly systematically destroying evidence to conceal accounting fraud.

Earlier, the prosecution indicted Lee and 11 other Samsung officials on charges including violation of the Capital Markets Act and breach of trust, viewing the 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries as an illegal act to secure Lee's management succession.

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