Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, who has been attracting attention as a so called ‘trial of the century,’ will be the first judge to rule on bribery charges.

The Seoul Central District Court`s Criminal Settlement No. 27 (Kim Jin-dong, Deputy Chief Judge) stated that KRW 43.3 billion worth of bribes to former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil of the 417th Suwon Hall in Seocho-dong. The trial is adjudicated by the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, former vice chairman of the Samsung Future Strategy Group (former vice chairman), former deputy chief of the Future Strategy Department of the former Samsung Group, former president of Samsung Electronics external affairs department Park Sang-jin.

Lee Jae-yong, vice-chairman of the committee, has been sentenced to trial on February 28 this year, only 178 days. The sentence begins with the words "I will adjudicate the case of the 194th (case number) case" of the judge Kim Jin-dong, the judge. The judge then explains the facts of innocence by the facts of the complaint, and the vice chairman hears the sentence results at the defendant`s seat.

After the judge has made a judgment on each allegation applied to the Vice President, the court will explain the reason for the sentence, and finally sentenced. The vice-chairman`s sentence requested by the special prosecutor is 12 years in prison, and the other defendants are 7 to 10 years in prison.

If the judge sentenced the vice chairman to a prison sentence, the vice chairman, who is due to arrive on August 27, will be imprisoned at the Seoul detention center. If he is guilty of innocence or probation, he will return to the detention center and return home.

The allegations applied to this vice-chairman include five cases: bribery and embezzlement, escape from property, criminal proceeds concealment, and parliamentary falsification. The court is likely to start by judging the core charge of bribery.

The key issue is whether Samsung`s support for Choi`s family is an illicit request for the succession of the vice chairman`s administration and, conversely, whether it is the damage caused by the forcible enforcement of Park. In the case of bribery, it is difficult to find any direct evidence. Based on indirect evidence such as the workbook of former Blue House policy coordinator An Jong-beom and testimony of suspects and reference persons.

If the court judges that the National Pension Service`s approval for the merger of Samsung C & T and Cheil Industries and Samsung`s riding support for Choi`s daughter Jung Yoo-ra are due to the transaction, the vice chairman will be guilty.

Meanwhile, if the judge judges that it is difficult to prove the guilt of bribery, all the charges except the perjury of the parliament are likely to be found not guilty. If there was no transaction, the embezzlement, property escape from the country, and the concealment of the criminal profit could also be attributed to the compulsion of former President Park. The per capita perjury is recommended for at least 10 months and up to two years in prison, which has little impact on the overall sentence.

Samsung is watching the results of the sentence in tense. According to Samsung, the executive team did not hold a separate meeting, but it is said that the vice-chairperson`s trial team and lawyers will discuss the countermeasures.

On August 23, the court ruled that the vice chairman is not allowed to say that the side effect is greater than the public interest in the live broadcast. However, there are also negative factors such as the ‘chaebol (conglomerate) reform’ keynote that has been emphasized since the beginning of the new government and negative public opinion about chaebols.

A Samsung representative said, "We expect the judge to make a wise decision. The best is innocent and the second is waiting for the probation, and the follow-up measures will be troubled after the outcome."

By Park Jung Il comja77@


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