Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su (C) and other justices are seated at a verdict hearing at the court in Seoul on Wednesday over a string of allegations, including bribery and abuse of power, that involve former President Park Geun-hye, her friend Choi Soon-sil and Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong. Photo by Yonhap

The Supreme Court sent a case to the Seoul High Court on Thursday, nullifying the lower court's rulings that sentenced former President Park Geun-hye (L), her friend Choi Soon-sil and Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong to 25 years in prison, 20 years in prison and a two-and-half-year suspended prison term, respectively. Photo by Yonhap

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- South Korea's top court on Thursday ordered a lower court to reconsider its suspended jail sentence for Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong in a massive bribery scandal that led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.

The de facto leader of the country's top conglomerate was initially sentenced to five years in jail in 2017 for bribing a longtime friend of Park as he sought the government's help in succeeding his father and securing control of Samsung Group.


He was freed a year later after the appeals court reduced the term to 2 1/2 years, suspended for four years, dismissing most of the bribery charges against him.

The Supreme Court, however, said Lee should be found guilty of providing about $4.1 million (5 billion won) more worth of bribes to the president's friend Choi Soon-sil, charges excluded from the previous court ruling.

If Lee is reincarcerated following the appeals court's review, it could deal a further blow to the country's top conglomerate already struggling with economic headwinds.

Samsung Electronics, the conglomerate's key unit, has taken a hard hit from South Korea and Japan's trade rift as Japan tightened the supply of key component exports to Korea.

The Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, who read out the sentence, said there had been a "misunderstanding of legal logic" and "lack of hearings" in the process, overturning part of the previous ruling.

Specifically, Kim said that the three horses, worth $2.8 million, that Samsung gifted to Choi should be considered as bribes. The earlier ruling had excluded them from bribery charges given that Samsung didn't give Choi ownership of the horses.

The top judge also noted that Samsung's $1.3 million donation to a sports foundation run by the Choi family was a planned move relevant to Lee's management succession from his hospitalized father Lee Kun-hee.

"Supreme Court ruling shows that the content or subject of bribery does not have to be detailed ... there is sufficient room to acknowledge that the sports foundation donation is relevant to the president's duty," Kim said.

The latest ruling more than doubled the amount of Lee's bribes to $7 million from $2.96 million. The lower court had only acknowledged the $2.96 million Samsung sent to Choi's Germany-based firm as bribes.

This also indicates a potential leadership crisis for Samsung. Under local law, the court can only hand down a suspension of sentence when the embezzlement amount is less than $4.12 million.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also ordered the lower court to review cases involving the former president and her longtime friend Choi. They had been sentenced to 25 years and 20 years in jail, respectively.

Thursday's ruling was broadcast live nationwide via TV and social media, reflecting a nationwide interest in the scandal that rocked the nation.

Tens of millions of people poured into the streets between October and December 2016 to hold candlelight vigils in protest of the massive corruption case.

Park was impeached by parliament in December 2016. The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment decision in March 2017, permanently removing her from office a year before the scheduled end of her original five-year term.