[Reporter’s Notebook]Lessons Learned from Attending 96 Trials

"Is defendant Lee Jae-yong present?"

"Yes. He is present."

Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, attended most of the trials over the past three years and five months regarding the 'illegal succession of management rights.' Out of a total of 107 trials, he attended 96 times, resulting in an attendance rate of 89%. Not every trial involved matters so important that required his direct testimony. On some days, after confirming his attendance in response to the court's question, he sat quietly in the defendant's seat without saying a word for eight hours. Despite such days being frequent, he never refused to attend or was late due to being busy. It appears there was a special reason for this. A business insider hinted, "It is understood that Chairman Lee felt a lot while watching the cross-examination of witnesses who claimed that the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was unfair."

Even if Chairman Lee and others did not intend to succeed management rights or pursue private interests during the merger process, they encountered in court the fact that it could cause harm to someone and be judged differently from their intentions. This was also reflected in the final argument Lee made at the sentencing hearing held on November 17 last year. He said, "I was able to see and hear more closely the various events and voices that occurred during the merger and accounting process. Sometimes I blamed myself, wondering if things had gotten tangled, and felt frustrated, but the public’s expectations for me and Samsung are much higher and stricter. I should have approached everything with higher and stricter standards, but I was lacking in many ways."

On the 5th, Chairman Lee was acquitted of all 19 charges. However, this does not mean that the entire trial process was meaningless. Through the reflections and realizations gained during the three years and five months of trial, the value of 'compliance management' at Samsung is expected to grow even stronger. Compliance management is like a habit that prevents judicial risks in advance.

With the not guilty verdict, Chairman Lee’s 'management shackles' were temporarily lifted. The sense of responsibility and burden is likely greater than the joy of gaining freedom. Competition among global companies to dominate semiconductors and smartphones by securing artificial intelligence (AI) technology is intensifying. Bold technology investments and challenging mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are also his responsibilities. Achieving world No. 1 through compliance management is the way to uphold the 'dignity' that Samsung prides itself on.

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