Lee Chan-hee, Samsung Vice Chairman, "Full Trust in Judiciary's Judgment on Lee Jae-yong's Appeal Trial"

Regular Meeting of the 3rd Subcommittee on the 24th Afternoon
Next Trial for Lee's Appeal Scheduled for the 30th
"Meeting with Lee Still Being Coordinated"
"Payment of Hankyungyeop Membership Fees Is a Matter of Persuasion"
"Careful Review Underway on Whether the India Strike Is a Problem"

Lee Chan-hee, Chairman of Samsung Compliance Committee (Compliance Committee), said on the 24th regarding the appeal trial of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's 'unfair merger and accounting fraud' charges, "We fully trust the judgment of the judiciary."

Lee Chan-hee, Chairman of Samsung Compliance Monitoring Committee. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Before attending the 3rd Compliance Committee regular meeting held at Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon, Chairman Lee told reporters, "Since the results may vary at each level of trial, it is difficult to express any opinion until the final verdict is confirmed," but added, "Fundamentally, we trust the judiciary."

The next hearing of Chairman Lee's appeal trial will be held on the 30th. Lee was indicted in September 2020 on charges of involvement in various fraudulent transactions, market manipulation, and accounting fraud orchestrated by the Group's Future Strategy Office to secure stable succession of management rights and strengthen control at minimal cost during the 2015 merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. The first trial in February acquitted Lee of all 19 charges.

Regarding plans to meet Chairman Lee, the committee chairman said, "Given the busy schedule of (Chairman Lee) overcoming various difficulties faced by Samsung, we are not in a position to strongly request him to allocate time for us," adding, "We are continuing to coordinate."

On mentioning 'collusion between politics and business' while approving the payment of membership fees to the Korea Economic Association (HanKyungHyeop), he said, "It is a matter of persuasion how HanKyungHyeop will proceed," and added, "I believe they will thoroughly review and judge what the principles are."

Regarding the labor strike at Samsung Electronics India subsidiary, Chairman Lee stated, "Workers' rights are fundamental rights that must be guaranteed regardless of domestic or overseas workplaces," and said, "We plan to carefully review whether there were any human rights issues or discrimination during the process." However, he added, "Equality under our constitution is not 'absolute equality' but 'relative equality' that prohibits discrimination without reasonable grounds," and "It is up to management's judgment under what conditions and which rights to guarantee and recognize."

On the incident where two workers were exposed to radiation at the Giheung campus, Chairman Lee refrained from commenting, saying, "We have not yet received the materials." Earlier, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission confirmed that two workers were exposed to radiation exceeding the standard by up to 188 times. The investigation results will be released at the end of this month.