Mastermind or Naïf? Samsung Heir’s Fate Hinges on the Question
Mr. Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, has been the top leader of the Samsung group of companies since its chairman
and his father, Lee Kun-hee, slipped into a coma three years ago.
Prosecutors say Mr. Lee and top Samsung executives paid $38 million in bribes to maintain that control without paying taxes.
The South Korean public has soured on big companies like Samsung, which many
believe are holding the country back and are funding political corruption.
Like other rich South Korean families, the Lees maintain control over the Samsung empire through a
complex web of cross-shareholdings between their companies rather than through controlling stakes.
Mr. Lee and his lawyers say that he is innocent — and
that he did not know enough about Samsung or South Korean politics to commit the crimes he is accused of.
SEOUL — The criminal trial of Lee Jae-yong, who controls Samsung, one of the world’s
largest corporate empires, has riveted South Korea since it began last spring.
Many top executives of those companies — including Mr. Lee’s father — have been tried
and even convicted of various crimes only to be pardoned or have their sentences commuted.
Regardless of the trial’s outcome, Mr. Lee’s reputation as a corporate leader has been damaged, say some Samsung watchers.