Appeal court chooses to free Samsung heir over bribery charges

Samsung heir Lee Jaeyong has been freed after a South Korean appeals court gave him a two-year suspended jail sentence for corruption in connection with a scandal that toppled the country’s president.

The Seoul High Court softened the original ruling against Lee, rejecting most of the bribery charges levelled against him by prosecutors, who sought a 12-year prison term.

Yesterday’s ruling clears the way for the Samsung vice-chairman to resume his role at the helm of the industrial giant founded by his grandfather after a year in prison. However, Lee still faces a slew of challenges outside prison.

Chief among them will be winning trust that he is capable of running South Korea’s biggest company, as well as assuaging public anger among those who viewed the court’s surprise decision as a setback in the war on corruption. “The past year was a precious time for personal reflection,” Lee said.

His first stop from the prison was a Samsung hospital where his father has been hospitalised after suffering a heart attack in 2014.

Lee was charged with offering US$38 million (£27m) in bribes to former president Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, embezzling Samsung funds, hiding assets overseas, concealing proceeds from criminal activities and perjury.

The appeals court said Lee was unable to reject the thenpresident’s request to financially support her confidante and was coerced into making the payments.

The court still found Lee guilty of giving £2.4m in bribes for equestrian training of Mr Choi’s daughter and of embezzling the money from Samsung funds.

Lee’s lawyer, Lee Injae, said the Samsung vice-chairman still planned to appeal his conviction. Prosecutors were also expected to appeal the court’s ruling, making it almost certain the case will go to the Supreme Court.

Lee, 49, the only son of Samsung’s ailing chairman, was given a five-year prison term in August last year on charges linked to a political scandal that took down former South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

Lee has pleaded not guilty to charges he used Samsung corporate funds to bribe Mrs Park and a confidante, seeking to consolidate his control over Samsung and facilitate a smooth transfer of corporate leadership from his father. The appeals court rejected the lower court’s view that corporate succession was one of the issues at stake.

Many South Koreans were expecting a tough stance from the appeals court and took to social media to vent their anger.