Lee Bok-hyun, the head of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), apologized to the public as the person in charge of the indictment in the appeal trial regarding the 'Samsung Biologics accounting manipulation allegations.' Before taking office as the head of the FSS, he led the investigation and prosecution of Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, at the Economic Crimes Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
On the 6th, Lee said in a meeting with reporters after the 'Open Forum for Activating the Korean Stock Market' held at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, "As the person in charge of the indictment, I prepared the charges, developed the logic, and drafted the evidence, but I was not adequately prepared to persuade the court, and I apologize to the public for that." He added, "I also apologize to the junior legal professionals who took over the trial work if they faced difficulties during the trial process."
Earlier, on the 3rd, the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judges Baek Kang-jin, Kim Sun-hee, and Lee In-soo) ruled not guilty for Lee, who was indicted on charges of violating capital market and financial investment laws. The court stated, "There was insufficient evidence to prove the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt." Lee was indicted in 2020 on accusations of intentionally lowering the stock price of Samsung C&T during the merger process with Cheil Industries in 2015. The 19 related charges alleging that he improperly pushed for the merger to reduce costs involved in the succession of management rights were all found not guilty in both the first and second trials.
Lee expressed disappointment while respecting the judiciary's decision. He explained, "The judiciary's stance is that from the Everland convertible bonds to the merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, even if the necessity is recognized through legal literature interpretation, it is difficult to acknowledge shareholder protection solely based on that." He further noted, "To prevent various failures in shareholder value protection, it has become evident that legislative amendments, including the Capital Markets Act, are unavoidable, rather than relying on legal interpretation."
Lee stated, "I hope that this (ruling) serves as a stepping stone for Samsung to regain its competitiveness and contribute to the national economy as a citizen," adding, "If there is anything the FSS can support, we will do our best."
Meanwhile, Lee noted that a significant level of accounting supervision has been conducted regarding the management rights dispute of Korea Zinc. He said, "It is not appropriate for the FSS to intervene unless there are deficiencies such as illegalities during the dispute processes like market disturbances," and added, "It is difficult to elaborate on the investigation and prosecutor's inquiry, but it has progressed to a considerable extent."