Lee Jae-yong Faces Intense Battle Over Sentencing at National Pension Scandal Retrial Today...

Special Prosecutor Requests Sentencing Comparison with Other Bribery Cases
Possibility of Interim Evaluation from Samsung Compliance Committee's Expert Review

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is entering the Seoul High Court in Seocho-dong on the 9th, where the retrial for the 'state affairs manipulation' case is being held. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The retrial hearing related to the state affairs manipulation case of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will be held on the 23rd. Although evidence related to sentencing will be presented at this hearing, a mid-term evaluation of the Samsung Compliance Committee may be released, setting the stage for intense disputes between Lee’s defense team and the special prosecution.

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Jung Jun-young) will hold a continuation hearing for Lee, who is charged with bribery and other offenses, at around 2:05 p.m. on the same day. This is the second hearing since the trial recently resumed. As it is a formal hearing, the defendant Lee Jae-yong is required to appear in court.

The court plans to conduct documentary evidence investigation related to sentencing as part of the renewal of trial procedures on this day. The trial procedures were renewed due to changes in the composition of the court members during the trial suspension. Accordingly, the special prosecution team led by Park Young-soo requested to conduct the documentary evidence investigation again.

At the hearing held on the 9th, the special prosecution argued that Lee’s sentencing in the previous appellate trial before the retrial was lighter compared to other bribery cases. The special prosecution announced that they would compare four cases including the Jo Hee-pal case with Lee’s case at the upcoming hearing. Lee was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a 4-year probation period in the appellate trial. However, the Supreme Court’s full bench last August overturned the ruling, finding some bribery amounts previously acquitted to be guilty and remanded the case.

In response, Lee’s defense team has rebutted that the Jo Hee-pal case and others are entirely different in context from Lee’s case. At a previous hearing, Lee’s defense lawyer argued, “Unlike other bribery cases, it was difficult to refuse due to coercion from former President Park Geun-hye’s side, and it was a donation aimed at the development of sports and culture rather than for personal gain.”

There is also a possibility that some opinions from expert evaluators regarding the Compliance Committee will be disclosed during this trial. The evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of the Compliance Committee reportedly include 10 areas proposed by Lee’s side and 5 areas suggested by the special prosecution.

Lee’s defense team proposed 10 evaluation items including ▲fulfillment of duty of care to prevent and detect illegal acts ▲roles and responsibilities of the Compliance Committee ▲periodic and substantive information provision ▲exclusion of key positions for those involved in illegal acts, among others.

The special prosecution submitted 5 items including ▲possibility of preventing crimes by corporate heads ▲compliance will regarding succession issues such as amendments to the Insurance Business Act ▲independence of the Compliance Committee’s budget and organization, among others.

The court announced that it will hear the opinions of the expert evaluation panel at the hearing on the 30th. However, the expert panel had a meeting last week with the Compliance Committee side, including Chairman Kim Ji-hyung.

Notably, one of the three panel members, former Constitutional Court Justice Kang Il-won, is known to have recently submitted a written opinion to the court. However, Kang’s opinion is likely related to the evaluation procedures or methods rather than an assessment of the Compliance Committee itself.