South Korea’s top court yesterday cleared Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Y. Lee of accounting fraud and stock manipulation, permanently removing a long-running legal risk for the head of the country’s biggest company.
The Supreme Court upheld an appeals court’s ruling dismissing all charges in the case involving a US$8 billion merger in 2015, freeing Lee to focus on Samsung’s push to catch up in a global race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips.
A lower court last year had also cleared Lee of the charges relating to a deal between two Samsung affiliates, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, which prosecutors said was designed to cement Lee’s control of the tech giant.
Photo: Reuters
“The Supreme Court ruling clears a layer of legal uncertainty, which could be a long-term positive for Samsung,” said Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
“It remains to be seen how directly and proactively he will engage going forward, but if the owner takes a more active role, it could allow management to focus more on long-term initiatives rather than short-term results,” Ryu added.
Samsung Electronics shares closed up 3.1 percent, outperforming a near-flat benchmark KOSPI.
Analysts attributed the rise to the removal of legal uncertainty surrounding Samsung, as well as investors switching to the company after Goldman Sachs downgraded local rival SK Hynix, sending its shares down as much as 9.5 percent.
The Supreme Court verdict was widely expected, but comes at a critical moment for Lee, who has faced mounting questions about his ability to lead Samsung Electronics — the world’s top memorychip and No. 2 smartphone maker.
For nearly a decade, Lee has faced legal challenges, including those from the merger that paved the way for his succession after his father, Lee Kun-hee, had a heart attack in 2014 that left him in a coma.
Jay Y. Lee, 57, spent 18 months in jail for bribery in a separate case related to former South Korean president Park Geun-hye, but was pardoned by then-South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS