May 08, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Former President Park Geun-hye is unlikely to appear as a witness in the July 5 session of the bribery trial of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

The former president had planned to participate in the second session of the 35th hearing for the Samsung heir but her attorneys sent a non-attendance statement to the Seoul Central District Court on July 3. 

Lee and 29 others have been indicted in connection with the influence-peddling scandal surrounding Park and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil. Prosecutors have asked Park to take the witness stand since May.

“We have had few opportunities to carry out face-to-face questioning of Park,” one of the prosecutors said in May, referring to Park’s refusal in February to attend questioning in person.

Lee, the de facto leader of Samsung, has been jailed since February on multiple charges including bribery and embezzlement.

As other key witnesses, including Choi, are refusing to appear in court, the judges are struggling to proceed with the trial. Last week, Choi declined to testify.

At a private meeting in July in 2015, the former president allegedly urged Lee to offer financial support for former equestrian athlete and Choi’s daughter Chung Yoo-ra.

Following the meeting, Samsung signed a contract worth 21.3 billion won (US$18.53 million), with two organizations run by Choi and gave an additional 7.8 billion won to the daughter directly.

Prosecutors claim Samsung’s financial support for Choi was aimed at winning the government’s support for a controversial merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015, a crucial deal for Lee to strengthen influence across other Samsung affiliates before a leadership transfer at the nation’s largest conglomerate.

Despite opposition from some minority shareholders, including US hedge fund Elliott Management, the deal was approved at a shareholders meeting largely due to the backing of the National Pension Service, the largest shareholder of Samsung C&T.

Choi is accused of wielding unusual influence over government organizations, including the Health and Welfare Ministry that controls the NPS. In June, former Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on charges of pressuring the NPS to approve the Samsung merger.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)