© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman, Jay Y. Lee, leaves the Seoul excessive court docket in Seoul, South Korea, October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee hosted U.S. President Joe Biden’s tour of a semiconductor plant in South Korea, after being excused from attending an accounting fraud trial listening to on Friday, a court docket spokesperson mentioned.
Lee was seen accompanying Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as the 2 heads of state met on the world’s largest semiconductor plant within the metropolis of Pyeongtaek about 50 km (30 miles) from Seoul.
It was Lee’s highest-profile public look since he was launched on parole in August final yr following a bribery conviction.
Samsung (KS:)’s chip manufacturing complicated in Pyeongtaek, spanning 2.89 million sq. metres or the dimensions of 400 soccer fields, has two manufacturing strains for DRAM and NAND flash reminiscence chips in addition to chip contract manufacturing, and a 3rd line to be accomplished this yr.
Extra strains are deliberate, in keeping with chip trade sources.
The third manufacturing line – known as P3 – which Biden toured, would be the largest of the three and anticipated to supply 14-nanometre DRAM chips utilized in servers and tech gadgets in addition to 5-nanometre logic chips.
Lee was seen explaining the positioning to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and looking out on as Biden was briefed by staff carrying blue protecting gear on the manufacturing facility ground, reside footage confirmed.
Since Lee was freed on parole, Samsung has made main strikes akin to selecting Taylor, Texas, because the U.S. location of its new $17 billion chip plant, merging its cellular and client electronics divisions and naming new co-CEOs in its largest reshuffle since 2017.
Lee’s absence from court docket is a uncommon prevalence. For over a yr, he has attended all hearings of a separate trial the place he’s accused of accounting fraud associated to the $8 billion merger of two Samsung corporations in 2015, court docket information confirmed.
Though the defendant’s attendance is required as a rule to make sure his proper to defend, the Seoul Central District Courtroom granted Lee’s request to not attend Friday’s listening to as witnesses’ testimony might be recorded, the court docket spokesperson mentioned.
