The Court Appoints Samsung Compliance Monitoring Committee's Expert Reviewers 'Kang Ilwon, Kim Kyungsoo, Hong Suntak'

Lee Jae-yong's Side and Special Prosecutors Oppose Opponent's Expert Psychological Committee Member... Court Dismisses, Saying "Has Expertise"

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is entering the Seoul High Court in Seocho-dong on the 9th, where the retrial for the 'state affairs manipulation' case is being held. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The retrial panel for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has appointed former Constitutional Court Justice Kang Il-won, former Daegu High Prosecutor Kim Kyung-soo (currently a lawyer), and accountant Hong Soon-tak (executive committee member of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy Economic and Financial Center) as expert advisors to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of the Samsung Compliance Committee.

Both the special prosecutor team led by Park Young-soo and Vice Chairman Lee's side expressed that they could not accept the expert advisors selected by the opposing party, but the court dismissed this by stating, "All expert advisors selected by both sides possess expertise."

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Jung Joon-young) announced on the 9th during the retrial hearing on Lee's embezzlement charges related to the state affairs manipulation case, "Last Friday (the 6th), we interviewed the candidates recommended by the special prosecutor and the defense for over two hours, and decided to appoint both as expert advisors."

Previously, the court had selected former Justice Kang, who presided over the impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye. Vice Chairman Lee's side recommended former High Prosecutor Kim, currently with the law firm Yulchon, while the special prosecutor team recommended accountant Hong.

Both sides opposed the expert advisors recommended by the other, citing "lack of neutrality." However, the court decided to appoint accountant Hong, noting, "He has extensive experience analyzing and providing opinions on many corporate crimes as an accountant," and "He has more interest than anyone else in internal control systems to prevent corporate crimes such as bribery and embezzlement."

Regarding former High Prosecutor Kim, the court explained, "He served as head of the Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and is currently a partner lawyer in the corporate criminal team at a law firm," and "He has experience on both the prosecution and defense sides in corporate crime investigations," deeming him suitable.

Thus, the expert advisory panel consists of three members: former Justice Kang, accountant Hong, and lawyer Kim, all appointed by the court.

However, the special prosecutor team strongly protested the court's selection of expert advisors on that day. They argued, "Lawyer Kim has a direct conflict of interest with the defendants as he has participated as counsel for Deloitte Anjin Accounting Firm, which was involved in the Samsung Biologics accounting fraud case."

In response, Vice Chairman Lee's side countered, "They are publicly disclosing the accounting firm's suspect facts," and the court pointed out, "This is unrelated to the charges in the current case." As the trial became heated, the court decided to take a five-minute recess.

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