South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a nine-year prison sentence for Samsung’s de facto head, Lee Jae-yong, during the bribery trial, in which Lee apologized and vowed not to be involved in similar allegations in an apparent plea for clemency.
The case is a key element of an explosive scandal in 2016 that sparked months of public protests and overthrew the South Korean president. A ruling on Lee could send him back to prison on charges of bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidant to gain government support for his pressure to strengthen control over Samsung.
The trial comes as Lee faces immense pressure to navigate Samsung’s transition after his father and Samsung Electronics president Lee Kun-Hee died in October.
A team of prosecutors led by independent lawyer Park Young-soo has asked the Seoul High Court to sentence Lee to prison. They said Samsung was “more actively seeking unfair benefits” than other companies over the 2016 scandal. Prosecutors said Samsung, which is South Korea’s largest company, should “set an example” for the efforts. to eradicate corruption.
“Samsung is a business group with overwhelming power and it is even said that South Korean companies are divided into Samsung and non-Samsung,” prosecutors said in the latest comments. “The rule of law and the principle of egalitarianism … are meant to punish those in power and those in economic power according to the equal standard.”
Prosecutors also asked the court to sentence three former Samsung executives to seven years in prison and another former executive to five years.
Lee, 52, vice president of Samsung Electronics, was sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison for offering 8.6 billion won ($ 7 million) in bribes to Park and his long-term confidence Choi Soon-sil. But he was released in early 2018 after the Seoul High Court reduced his term to 2½ years and suspended his sentence, overturning key convictions and reducing the amount of his bribe.
Last year, the Supreme Court returned the case to the high court, ruling that Lee’s bribe was underestimated. He said Samsung’s money to buy three racehorses used by Choi’s equestrian daughter and fund a winter sports foundation run by Choi’s niece should also be considered bribes.
At Wednesday’s court hearing, Lee’s lawyers said the basic nature of the 2016 scandal concerns the abuse of power by former President Park, which violated the freedom and property rights of businesses. Lawyers said Lee and the other former Samsung executives involved in the scandal failed to withstand pressure from Park and Choi and that they and Samsung had not received any special favors from the Park government.
Lee apologized for the case, saying that “it’s all my fault” and that “I deeply regret and am ashamed of myself.” Lee said he would never engage in any activity that could cause misunderstandings and pledged to focus on contributing to South Korean society.
Lee also reiterated his previous promise not to pass on driving rights to his children and to stop suppressing employees’ attempts to organize unions.
The Seoul High Court will issue a ruling on January 18, according to South Korean media reports.
In September, prosecutors separately charged Lee with charges of stock price manipulation, breach of trust and breach of audit related to a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that helped strengthen Lee’s control over the group’s crown jewel, Samsung Electronics.
Lee’s lawyers denied the allegations, calling them “unilateral claims.” They say the 2015 merger was “a normal business activity”.