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Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong heads to the Seoul Central District Court for questioning on June 8. (Yonhap News)

South Korean prosecutors indicted Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and 10 other current and former executives at Samsung on Sept. 1, igniting a firestorm of protests from the conservative press. Concerns that the indictments may cause problems for company management and disappointment that the prosecutors rejected the recommendation of their investigation review board are reasonable, up to a point. But the conservative press doubled down with hyperbolic hand-wringing about “judicial risk” that jeopardizes corporations, the “crime of running a business,” and the “politicization of law enforcement.” We can’t help but ask whether those newspapers think such a blinkered defense actually helps Samsung.

On Sept. 2, the Chosun Ilbo ran an editorial titled “Another indictment for Lee Jae-yong: unending investigations and trials for this entrepreneur” in which it said that Lee has been “suffering from detentions, investigations, and trials for four years, since 2016.” The editorial’s tone would suggest that the prosecutors and the courts have framed Lee for imaginary crimes. The reason that Lee has been dogged by investigations and trials over the past four years is the sheer extent of his illegal behavior, including the bribes he gave to former President Park Geun-hye and her cronies, accounting fraud at Samsung BioLogics, and price manipulation in the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.

Omitting such context and presenting Lee as some kind of innocent victim is classic misinformation. The Joongang Ilbo said in an editorial that “it can’t be said that the indictment of [the figures at] Samsung didn’t take place amid dissension and a power struggle among top prosecutors.” The wishy-washy double negative in this sentence represents an attempt to distract readers. To varying degrees, most of the other conservative papers were anxious to provide cover for Lee Jae-yong.

It’s widely understood that Lee was indicted for the illegal activities in his campaign to inherit control over the Samsung Group. It’s not “judicial risk” but “owner risk” that repeatedly creates challenges for Samsung, South Korea’s leading conglomerate. If not for the illegality and corruption perpetrated by Samsung’s owning family — from its founder on down to Lee — Samsung could have enjoyed even more growth.

But these newspapers are providing Lee with unconditional protection and cover, without even bringing up his wrongdoing, providing one more reason for Korea to be called the “Republic of Samsung.” That erodes the foundation of trust, a key value for company management in the mid- and long term. If Samsung were a true global corporation, it would take stock of its past wrongdoing and initiate reforms that would lead it into the future, rather than relying on the dubious support of the so-called conservative press. That would not only correspond to the public apology that Lee made for the illegal aspects of his succession to management rights back in May, but would also be the right way to restore trust.

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]