{"id":2203728,"date":"2024-02-06T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T23:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2203728"},"modified":"2024-02-05T17:41:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T08:41:59","slug":"samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung chief acquitted, boosting conglomerate while raising judicial suspicion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Seoul Central District Court <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20240205105053004?section=society\/all&amp;site=topnews01\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">acquitted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Samsung Electronics Company Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday of charges related to the controversial <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreaherald.com\/view.php?ud=20150526000179\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2015 merger<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&amp;T Corp. Lee faced allegations of breach of trust, stock price manipulation and accounting fraud in a merger to consolidate his control over Samsung Group, South Korea\u2019s largest conglomerate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutors had accused Lee and other Samsung executives of manipulating the stock market to influence the merger in favor of Lee\u2019s succession plans. This included inflating the value of Cheil Industries and devaluing Samsung C&amp;T stocks. However, the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove the prosecutors\u2019 charges against Lee, including the accusation that the merger\u2019s goal was to consolidate Lee\u2019s control over the conglomerate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freed from the constraints of legal battles, Lee\u2019s acquittal will likely jumpstart Samsung Group\u2019s mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) strategy, vital for maintaining its global competitive edge. Samsung has not entered any significant M&amp;A agreement since <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/global\/samsung-electronics-to-acquire-harman-accelerating-growth-in-automotive-and-connected-technologies\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">acquiring HARMAN<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 an American audio electronics company \u2014 for $8 billion in 2016. This move could lead to substantial expansions or diversifications in Samsung\u2019s business portfolio in fields such as AI, fintech and robotics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the court\u2019s decision also raises critical questions about the efficacy of South Korea\u2019s judiciary. The South Korean public and international investors will likely perceive the verdict as the latest example of leniency toward influential business figures, potentially undermining confidence in the country\u2019s legal system. This perception could affect foreign investment decisions and public trust, influencing the broader business environment in South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/business-economy\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Business &amp; Economy<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/culture-society\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Culture &amp; Society<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Seoul Central District Court acquitted Samsung Electronics Company Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday of charges related to the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&amp;T Corp. Lee faced allegations of breach of trust, stock price manipulation and accounting fraud in a merger to consolidate his control over Samsung [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2203729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[24,25],"class_list":["post-2203728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-business-economy","tag-culture-society"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Samsung chief acquitted, boosting conglomerate while raising judicial suspicion - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Samsung chief acquitted, boosting conglomerate while raising judicial suspicion - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Seoul Central District Court acquitted Samsung Electronics Company Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday of charges related to the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&amp;T Corp. Lee faced allegations of breach of trust, stock price manipulation and accounting fraud in a merger to consolidate his control over Samsung [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-05T23:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-05T08:41:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/02\/eb-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnleenknews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"johnleenknews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9766dba611638edc06a6e0b7078714d\"},\"headline\":\"Samsung chief acquitted, boosting conglomerate while raising judicial suspicion\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-05T23:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-05T08:41:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/\"},\"wordCount\":285,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/samsung-chief-acquitted-boosting-conglomerate-while-raising-judicial-suspicion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/02\/eb-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Business &amp; 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