[Photo by Namkung Jinwoong = timeid@ajunews.com]
The jailed de facto leader of South Korea's largest conglomerate, Samsung, has become a courtroom superstar as hundreds of people were locked in a rat race to get tickets for his sentencing hearing this week.
More than 450 people vied for tickets on Tuesday when the Seoul Central District Court held a drawing to select 30 who can attend the hearing on Friday. The courtroom has about 150 seats but only 30 seats are available for ordinary citizens.
The raffle started at 10:00 am (0100GMT) but people had to wait in a long line for several hours. Some complained about a small number of seats but court authorities cited security and reserved seats for family members and reporters.
Prosecutors have demanded 12 years in prison for Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee on charges of providing bribes to Choi Soon-sil, the jailed crony of former president Park Geun-hye, in an attempt to facilitate the succession of group leadership from his bedridden father.
Lee has denied charges that he pledged some 43.3 billion won (38.5 million US dollars) in kickbacks and bankrolling the equestrian training of Choi's daughter in Germany. He insisted no strings have been attached to Samsung's cash donation to entities controlled by Choi.
Top officials of the family-run conglomerates or "chaebol" have made regular court appearances on various charges. Some have received heavy jail terms, only for them to be pardoned or released on early parole.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
