Lee Jae-yong Acquitted by Supreme Court of Unfair Merger Charges, Legal Risks Cleared

23 Charges Including Unfair Merger and Accounting Fraud
Supreme Court Upholds Not-Guilty Verdict Following First and Second Trials

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, is returning to Korea through the Business Aviation Center at Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul on March 28, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The Supreme Court has finalized a not-guilty verdict for Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was tried on charges of unfair merger and accounting fraud. With this decision, Chairman Lee has cleared his legal risks after 10 years.

The Supreme Court's Third Division, presided over by Justice Oh Seokjun, on July 17 upheld the lower court's ruling that found Chairman Lee not guilty of all charges, including unfair trading and market manipulation under the Capital Markets Act, as well as breach of trust. This comes four years and ten months after Chairman Lee was indicted, and about five months after the second trial verdict.

Previously, Chairman Lee was indicted in September 2020 on charges of being involved in unfair trading, market manipulation, and accounting fraud orchestrated by Samsung's Future Strategy Office during the 2015 merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. The prosecution alleged that these actions were intended to enable Lee to stably inherit management control at minimal cost and to strengthen his dominance over the group.

Thirteen other defendants, including Choi Ji-sung, former head of Samsung Group's Future Strategy Office, Kim Jong-joong, former head of the Strategy Team at the same office, and Jang Choong-ki, former deputy head, who were indicted alongside Lee, were also acquitted. The Supreme Court stated, "There was no error in the lower court's judgment, such as failing to sufficiently review the necessary facts, violating the principles of logic and experience, exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misunderstanding the relevant laws regarding the Capital Markets Act and the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies."

Chairman Lee was indicted in September 2020 on charges of being involved in unfair trading, market manipulation, and accounting fraud orchestrated by the Future Strategy Office during the 2015 merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, with the aim of stably inheriting management control at minimal cost and strengthening his dominance. In February last year, the first trial acquitted Lee and others of all 19 charges. In February this year, the second trial also acquitted them of all 23 charges, including additional allegations. Although the prosecution appealed the second trial verdict, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on this day.