A South Korean judge overseeing the bribery trial of Samsung heir Jay Y Lee told him on Friday that he must “humbly accept” the outcome of the proceedings, Reuters reported.

Lee, whose Korean name is Lee Jae-yong, attended the first hearing at Seoul High Court after the country’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial in the 2017 corruption case. He was initially sentenced to five years in jail in 2017 for paying 3.6 billion won (Rs 22 crore) in bribes to a longtime friend of former President Park Geun-Hye in an attempt to succeed his father
at the helm of the Samsung Group, The Korea Times reported.

However, the following year the Seoul High Court reduced his sentence, and dismissed most of the bribery charges against him. The top court overturned part of the conviction in August, and said Lee was also guilty of providing an additional 5 billion won (Rs 30 crore) worth of bribes to the former president’s friend Choi Soon-sil. Samsung’s 1.6 billion won (Rs 9.7 crore) donation to a sports foundation run by the Choi family should also be considered a bribe, it added.

Earlier in the day, the businessman told journalists at the courthouse that he felt “very sorry for causing concerns to many people”. He was met by jeers as he made his way into the courtroom. Choi’s trial will begin next Wednesday while the date for Park’s trial is yet to be fixed.

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