2/3/2018 South Korean prosecutors seek 12-year jail term for Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong, East

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South Korean prosecutors seek 12-year jail term for

Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong

South Korea's Samsung Group heir Lee Jae Yong has denied allegations of wrongdoing as the appeals trial of his five-year jail term for corruption neared its end. PHOTO: REUTERS

 PUBLISHED DEC 27, 2017, 1:54 PM SGT UPDATED DEC 27, 2017, 5:55 PM

SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday (Dec 27) sought a 12-year jail term for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae Yong on
appeal after a lower court sentenced him to five years in August for bribery in a case that rocked the country.

The Seoul High Court is expected to rule on the case in late January.

Convicted of bribing the country's former president, Lee on Wednesday denied allegations of wrongdoing as the appeals trial of his five-year jail term for
corruption came to an end.

Lee Jae Yong, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world's biggest corporate empires, has been detained since February and was convicted by a lower court in
August of bribing Park Geun Hye, who was dismissed as South Korea's president in March.
 

The court decided the bribe helped Lee strengthen his control of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel in the conglomerate and one of the world's top
technology firms.

Lee, looking relaxed in a dark suit and white shirt without tie at the appeals hearing, denied this charge and also denied recent allegations that he had met
Park one-on-one four times, instead of the previously disclosed three times.

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/samsung-scion-lee-jae-yong-denies-corruption-charges-as-legal-appeal-nears-end 1/2
2/3/2018 South Korean prosecutors seek 12-year jail term for Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong, East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

The lower court in August had ruled that while Lee never asked for Park's help directly, the fact that a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates did help cement
Lee's control over Samsung Electronics "implied" he was asking for the president's help to strengthen his control of the firm.

His lawyers have strongly challenged this logic since appeals hearings began in October.

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Faced with investor worries of a leadership vacuum as Lee remains detained, Samsung appointed a new generation of top managers at its three main
businesses including semiconductors in October.

Lee has been widely expected to follow in his father Lee Kun Hee's footsteps in the future. Lee Kun Hee, chairman of the group, has been hospitalised since
2014.

Answering a prosecutor's question about his future as Samsung heir, Lee said: "I had been privately thinking that chairman Lee Kun Hee will be the final
person to have the title of Samsung Group chairman."

"I have often said that I want to be a businessman who is recognised for capability, not just for being someone's son, or for having a lot of shares."

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