In the recent past, some top South Korean businessmen who have been in custody while on trial have used the lenient visitation regime to the full.
For example, Justice Department data obtained and then released by an opposition party lawmaker shows that Chey Tae-won, the head of chemicals to telecoms and semiconductors conglomerate SK Group, had 171 “special” meetings with non-attorney visitors, when he was detained between February 2013 and July 2014.
Chey also had 1,607 meetings with his lawyers during that time, or three times a day on average, and the regularity of the meetings allowed him to review and comment on major decisions for the conglomerate while being detained, according to people familiar with the matter.
While Lee won’t have access to a computer in his 6.56 square meter (71 square foot) cell, he can view documents during those meetings with his lawyers and Samsung executives. Lee is not allowed to take documents back to his cell.
