Samsung heir appeals against prison sentence

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae- officially appealed Monday against a five-year prison sentence handed down to him by the Seoul central district court three days earlier.

Lee, 49, was found guilty of involvement in a multi-million dollar bribery scandal that also led to the expulsion of President Park Geun- in March.

His attorneys refused to accept the verdict, saying they were confident Lee would be cleared of all charges in an appeals court according to local news agency Yonhap.

The appeal is expected to begin in earnest with a first hearing in September.

The Samsung heir has been effectively in charge since his father, group chairman Lee Kun-hee, was hospitalized following a heart attack in 2014.

Meanwhile, amid concerns of a power vacuum at South Korea's largest conglomerate, Vice Chairman Kwon Oh- stressed Monday that company executives would take over in the meantime and urged staff to "steadily wait until the truth is revealed".

"We all need to gather power and wisdom to overcome the unprecedented challenge," Kwon said in an official statement.