Special Prosecutor Seeks 9 Years in Prison for Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong: Lee Appeals for Leniency Claiming to Have Learned His Lesson

[경향신문]

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics enters the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul to attend the final court session on the case of the abuse of state authority on December 30. Lee Joon-heon

The team of special prosecutor Park Young-soo sought a 9-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, on trial for bribing former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil). Lee tearfully appealed for leniency in his final statement.

In Lee’s final court session in connection to the abuse of state authority held at Criminal Division 1 (chief justice Jeong Jun-yeong) of the Seoul High Court on December 30, the special prosecutor asked for a 9-year prison sentence for Lee.

The special prosecutor demanded a sentence stronger than the 5 years’ imprisonment sentenced in the first trial, since the amount of the bribes for which Lee was found guilty increased by more than 5 billion won after the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court. The special prosecutor said, “The amount embezzled increased by 600 million won and the amount of bribes increased by 5 billion won compared with the appellate trial before the case was returned to the lower court.” He further explained, “The minimum sentence according to the Court Organization Act is five years in prison, and it is clear that there is no special circumstances for a suspended sentence.”

The special prosecutor continued and said, “All the main culprits involved in the abuse of state authority, such as former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Seo-won, were all sentenced to heavy prison sentences, and even Park Chae-yoon, who gave bribes (to former senior secretary Ahn Jong-beom) that amounted to only a 140th of the bribes in this case, was sentenced to prison.” He argued, “Whether a person holds living power or dead power, the greatest political power or the greatest economic power, whether he is a man in power or an ordinary person, the same standard must be applied for his punishment.” As for Samsung group’s compliance committee, which was a controversial issue in Supreme Court, the special prosecutor said, “The state must not abandon its control by the rule of law just because of a compliance policy that depends on the willingness of the business owner.”

Lee’s lawyers argued that Lee had offered the bribe as a passive response to the aggressive demands of the president and argued for a suspended sentence. According to them, Lee’s case was a “passive response to the active demands of the receiver,” which can be grounds for a reduced sentence according to the sentencing standards for bribery. Lee’s lawyers said, “The president fiercely reprimanded Lee Jae-yong saying, ‘We need to buy a good horse for a promising equestrian, and Samsung is not doing that.’”

Lee also argued that the compliance committee should also be reflected in the sentence. His lawyers argued, “The sincerity and sustainability of the compliance committee was affirmed by an expert review,” and added, “When considering the impact of the new compliance policy on other businesses in our country, this should be reflected as an important factor in the sentencing.”

In his final statement Lee said, “It is all my fault. I deeply repent with a shameful heart.” He also said, “As a son who recently lost his father (the late Lee Kun-hee), I would like to create a new Samsung befitting the dignity of our nation and make my father proud.” When mentioning his father, he was on the verge of tears and unable to speak for over thirty seconds.

In the first trial, Lee was sentenced to five years in prison for giving bribes to Park Geun-hye and Choi Seo-won--paying for the equestrian training costs of Chung Yoo-ra, Choi’s daughter, in exchange for favors in his succession of the management of the Samsung group. In the second trial, the court acquitted Lee for the money he gave to support the Korea Winter Sports Elite Center and some of the money he gave to fund the equestrian costs, and Lee was released after a sentence of two years and six years in prison, which was to be suspended for four years. In August 2019, the Supreme Court judged that the 5 billion won bribe, not acknowledged in the second trial, should be recognized and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court. The sentencing will be on January 18.