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Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (left) and Elliot Management Founder Paul Singer

On July 25, the investigative team of Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo made public a large number of text messages found on the mobile phone of Jang Choong-gi, former head of Samsung’s Future Strategy Office. The messages were released in the trial of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, which is being held by the 27th criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court. Jang was the person in charge of government lobbying for the Samsung Group. These text messages illustrate the overall way that Samsung handled the National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and other parts of the government.

The Special Prosecutor submitted over 80 additional text messages that Jang had sent or received between 2014 and 2016 to the court as evidence, explaining that he had “only excerpted the parts that would help support the case.” The Special Prosecutor argued that the messages “had high evidentiary value since they provide a detailed look at the indirect and continuous way in which [Samsung] sought favors,” while Lee Jae-yong’s attorneys retorted that “the messages were exchanged between close friends, and they‘re unrelated to the charges.”　

The text messages exchanged by Jang Choong-gi and Lee Heon-su, former chief of strategy coordination at the NIS, confirm that the two sides were swapping “intelligence.” Lee sent Jang the following message: “Elliott Management is currently managing about US$22 billion. South Korean affairs are being handled in Hong Kong, and they reportedly keep a tight seal on the situation inside. I’m planning to meet someone to learn a little more, and I’ll also have someone else look into the details. More information next time…” Elliott Management is a US-based hedge fund that opposed the merger of Cheil Industries with Samsung C&T, in which it held a large share. Some legal experts hold that it is illegal for a state intelligence agency to give any information it has collected to a private enterprise. This is sure to provoke suspicions that Samsung has obtained information it needed from high-ranking officials at the NIS.

“I think this country was stabilized by the support that your company provided last year. That information is being put to very good use. Thank you,” wrote Lee in another text message to Jang. “It can be inferred that Jang Choong-gi not only received information from Lee Heon-su but also provided him with information,” the Special Prosecutor said, emphasizing that Samsung had compensated the NIS for the information it received. Attorneys for Lee Jae-yong countered that “Lee Heon-su and Jang Choong-gi were exchanging information because of their close friendship, which goes back to middle school.”　

Lawmakers were not immune from Samsung’s influence. SK Vice Chairman Kim Young-tae made the following suggestion to Jang: “Choong-gi, Chung Doo-un keeps talking about the Samsung merger and is swearing that he‘ll call witnesses during the regular session of the National Assembly. Looks like you should do something about that when you have a chance.” “This seems to be saying that [Jang] needed to exercise his influence about a political figure who was making negative remarks about the Samsung merger,” the Special Prosecutor said. Lee Jae-yong’s attorneys downplayed the significance of the text message, which they said was “exchanged by people who had been close since their time in middle school.”

The text messages also mentioned former lawmaker Kim Gi-sik, who has asked questions in the National Assembly in 2015 about the National Pension Service‘s approval of the Samsung merger. “In regard to what Kim Gi-sik said yesterday, I’ve shared concerns that if he keeps asking for that transcript, Elliott could take advantage of that in an investor-state dispute settlement. He said okay and that he understood the concerns. I don’t think that he or the national policy committee are going to make any more fuss about that,” said a text message sent by an unidentified individual. “This text message seems to be looking for ways to deal with Kim Gi-sik’s request for the release of the transcript of a meeting of the pension service’s investment committee,” the Special Prosecutor argued.

By Kim Min-kyung and Hyun So-eun, staff reporters

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