By Jung Min-ho
Former President Park Geun-hye will likely be found guilty of receiving bribes from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, following the court decision that found him guilty of bribing her, lawyers said.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled Friday that Samsung gave 7.2 billion won ($6.4 million) in bribes to Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil, and Lee "implicitly ordered" company officials to do so.
The court confirmed Lee knew the bribes would end up in Park's hands when he decided to give the money to Choi and expected the former president to help ensure his control of the business empire.
Following the verdict, lawyers said, it is very likely that Park will be found guilty of bribery ― a charge that could put her in prison for life.
"The court confirmed Lee as a bribe giver. It will likely find Park as a receiver because the two cases are not separate," lawyer Kim Yong-min said.
Choi was not a government official ― so she alone did not have any authority to abuse. Thus, it was crucial for special counsel Park Young-soo to prove that Choi shares properties with the former president ― the person who had the authority.
The court acknowledged the special relationship between the two and perceived the bribes given to Choi and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra as bribes to the former president.
"That was probably the trickiest and critical part of the ruling," lawyer Huh Yoon said.
The lawyers said the ruling will likely affect Park unfavorably. She is waiting for the ruling on her 13 charges. Among them are charges of taking bribes from Samsung, SK and Lotte.
The court said the former president was aware of Lee's efforts to strengthen his control over group management. That means the court confirmed her motive to help him in return for her favors.
In February, the special counsel indicted Lee on charges of giving bribes to Park and Choi in the guise of donations. In return, the special counsel noted, the former president pressured the National Pension Service, a key shareholder of two Samsung units ― Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries ― to vote for their merger in 2015, which was important for Lee to gain more control over group management.
On charges of abusing his authority to smooth out the process, Moon Hyung-pyo, who was minister of health and welfare at that time, was already found guilty and given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.