Samsung leader fined for illegal use of sedative by a Seoul court

Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong was fined by a court in Seoul on Tuesday for the illegal use of the sedative propofol.

Lee was fined a total of 87 million won, approximately $74,000, at Seoul Central Court for administering propofol illegally 41 times at a cosmetic clinic in Seoul between 2015 to 2020.

Judge Jang Young-chae said Lee’s charge was serious considering his position and influence and the number of times he administered the drugs illegally.

But the judge said his sentencing reflected the fact that the Samsung Electronics vice chairman had confessed to all his crimes and had no prior convictions on related crimes.

Lee had already pleaded guilty to the charges in a prior hearing and apologised.

In August, the vice chairman was released from prison on parole after being jailed in January for bribery charges related to former South Korea President Park Geun-hye and her aide, where he attempted to gain government support for a merger between two Samsung affiliates.

He is still under a separate trial for alleged stock price manipulation involving the two Samsung affiliates.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix announced its third-quarter earnings, saying it recorded 11.8 trillion won in sales and 4.17 trillion won in operating income during the quarter.

The figures are a surge of 45% and 220%, respectively, from the same time period a year prior.

SK Hynix said high demand for memory semiconductors in the server and smartphone sectors, as well as increased chip prices, were behind the high growth.

The company also credited its success to an increase to the yield rate for premium DRAM and NAND flash chips.

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