Samsung Galaxy S8 specs review

Kim Yong-Gu of Hana Financial Investment Co. said investors were also concerned that IT and automakers would be most affected if the USA report on foreign currencies due next week adds to United States pressure on South Korea to reduce its trade surplus.

Lee Jae-Yong, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, was brought into the Seoul Central District Court bound and handcuffed. Lee is also being charged with embezzlement and perjury.

Park herself was arrested a week earlier on charges such as colluding with Choi to pressure businesses such as Samsung to contribute to foundations that backed her administration’s policy initiatives. During the huge weekly rallies protesting the government that continued for months, demonstrators pressed for the arrest of Lee and other business leaders.

Prosecutors say he gave 43bn Korean won ($38m; £30m) to President Park Guen-hye’s friend for political favours. Yang denied Lee’s argument that Samsung was coerced into giving Park and Choi money, saying the victims of the dealings were national pension fund holders, affiliates of Samsung and its shareholders, who suffered losses due to a merger allegedly engineered for Lee’s sake.

The defence team said Lee, and other former and current Samsung executives, felt threatened in their interactions with Choi Soon-sil as Samsung provided financial support.

“But there was no such need”, Song said.

The trial carries the risk of leaving a leadership vacuum at the helm of the company during a crucial moment. With this, there are speculations that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 may do away with the home button feature and place the fingerprint scanner on the back of the device, similar to its newest flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Lee has effectively been at the helm of Samsung since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.

South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc estimated on Friday its first-quarter operating profit rose 82 percent to its highest in almost eight years, handily beating market expectations on healthy sales of appliances and televisions.

At the time, the company reported a decline at its IT and mobile communications division, which makes both handsets and network equipment and accounted for about 44% of fourth-quarter revenues.