Appendicitis Lee Jae-yong Requests Trial Postponement Over 'Unfair Merger Allegations' in Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who recently underwent surgery for appendicitis while incarcerated, has requested the court to postpone the trial scheduled for the 25th regarding allegations of unfair merger and accounting fraud.

On the 22nd, Lee’s legal counsel submitted a statement of opinion on the trial procedure to the Criminal Division 25-2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Jeong-je). The statement reportedly included that Lee’s health condition is poor, making it difficult for him to attend the first trial scheduled for the 25th. The court is expected to soon decide whether to postpone the trial date and, if deemed necessary, notify the prosecution and the defendant parties of the change.

Lee, who was serving a 2-year and 6-month prison sentence confirmed for bribery in the National Pension Scandal and was detained at Seoul Detention Center, underwent emergency surgery at Samsung Medical Center on the afternoon of the 19th due to a burst appendix. Apart from the National Pension Scandal case, he was also indicted on charges including unfair trading practices and market manipulation under the Capital Markets Act, and was preparing for his first trial after two pre-trial hearings.

The prosecution alleges that Samsung Group’s Future Strategy Office led the 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries to facilitate Lee’s succession of management rights by inflating Cheil Industries’ stock price and lowering Samsung C&T’s stock price through the dissemination of false information, and that Lee was informed of and approved this process. On the other hand, Lee’s side claims that the merger was a legitimate business activity carried out for managerial necessity and asserts his innocence.

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