Court: "Non-prosecution of Lee Geon-hee and Choi Ji-seong in 'Samsung Union Busting' is Justified"… Metalworkers Union's Reapplication Dismissed

Seoul High Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The court has ruled that the prosecution's decision not to indict the late Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Group, and others in connection with the 'union dissolution' case of Samsung Group is justified.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Criminal Division 31 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Ham Sang-hoon, Kim Jong-woo, Hwang Seung-tae) dismissed the request for reconsideration filed by the Korean Metal Workers' Union against Chairman Lee, former Samsung Future Strategy Office head Choi Ji-sung, former Samsung Electronics Service CEO Park Sang-beom, and others.

The court stated, "Considering the case records and the materials submitted by the applicant, the prosecutor's decision not to indict is acceptable, and there is a lack of evidence to recognize the non-indictment decision as unjust."

Regarding Chairman Lee, the court added, "Since he passed away after the request for reconsideration was filed, the request for reconsideration concerning him is inappropriate."

A request for reconsideration is a system where the complainant or accuser, dissatisfied with the prosecutor's decision not to indict, applies to the competent high court to review the validity of the non-indictment decision.

If the court finds the request for reconsideration justified, it can decide to prosecute the case.

Previously, the prosecution investigated allegations that Samsung Group executives conspired systematically to dissolve the Samsung Electronics Service union, but Chairman Lee and former head Choi were not indicted in December 2018 due to insufficient evidence.

The Metal Workers' Union appealed this decision, but when the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office also found no issue with the non-indictment and dismissed the appeal, the union filed a request for reconsideration with the court.

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