The former head of South Korea’s biggest business group Samsung went on trial yesterday for tax evasion and breach of trust, less than two months after stepping down in the wake of a corruption probe.
Former chairman Lee Kun-hee accepted blame for any ethical lapses during his two decades at the helm of the group, which employs 200,000 people and accounted for more than 20 percent of the nation’s exports last year.
“All the lapses rest with me and I take full responsibility,” he said in an opening statement to a Seoul district court, appealing for leniency for seven codefendants.
COMPETITION
“I have been rushing forward without looking around over the past 20 years in the belief that I had to win the struggle against foreign competitors,” said Lee, 66, who was not asked to enter a formal plea.
Special prosecutors charged him on April 17 after a three-month probe into corruption allegations against the multinational. He quit the group later that month.
Prosecutors cleared Lee of bribery, the main claim made by a former Samsung chief lawyer turned whistleblower who had prompted parliament to call for the inquiry.
Lee could technically face life in prison if convicted. But most other South Korean tycoons brought to court on criminal charges have escaped severe punishment, with judges citing a negative impact on the economy.
The key point at issue in the trial is whether Lee had instigated and planned the controversial transfer of control over the group from him to his son Lee Jae-yong.
Previous court rulings found that executives arranged for the son to acquire control of Everland, Samsung’s de facto holding company, at a below-market price in the mid-1990s through the issue of low-priced convertible bonds.
Lee senior was charged with breach of trust over the transfer, with prosecutors citing the “remarkably low price” set for the bonds.
CONSPIRACY?
Lee’s lawyers say there was no conspiracy when the junior Lee acquired Everland and the son was the only person wishing to acquire the bonds.
Lee Kun-hee is also charged with evading a capital gains tax bill of 112.8 billion won (US$110 million).
The special prosecutors found that 1,199 borrowed-name accounts were used to make profits from the sale of shares in Samsung Electronics and other affiliates, and that 112.8 billion won worth of taxes was evaded.
They also said Lee’s hidden assets amount to 4.5 trillion won but added that no evidence of a bribery slush fund, as claimed by the whistleblower, had emerged.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS