Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, appeared at the court on Oct. 25 on the charges of bribery that Samsung offered to Choi Soon-sil, a friend and adviser to former President Park Geun-hye, and donations to the Winter Sports Genius Center.
The Seoul High Court will hold its first trial for Lee and five Samsung officials on Oct. 25.
In the previous second trial, the Seoul High Court sentenced Lee to two and a half years in prison, suspended for four years while standing trial in custody. "I feel deeply sorry for causing many people to worry," said Lee, who appeared with a black suit and a gray tie.
He then did not answer the questions such as, "What do you think about the change in sentence if the amount of bribes goes up?" "When you are in court again, does not Samsung Group owner's risk occur?"
Earlier in August, the Supreme Court judged both 3.4 billion won that Samsung purchased three horses and 1.6 billion won that it sponsored to the Winter Sports Center as bribes.
In February last year, an appeals court did not recognize it as a bribe. Following the Supreme Court's ruling, the amount of Lee's bribery charges will rise significantly to 8.6 billion won from the original 3.6 billion won.
Some predict that the sentence will be higher than that received by the appeals court if the amount of bribery will go up and other charges will be raised.
