South Korean prosecutors announced their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court after an appeals court found Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee guilty on all charges related to a 2015 merger. Lee has been facing ongoing legal challenges as Samsung Electronics, a leading memory chip and smartphone manufacturer, contends with increased competition and underwhelming stock performance. Samsung declined to provide comment. The Seoul High Court upheld a lower court's decision on February 3, dismissing charges stemming from an $8 billion merger between two Samsung affiliates in 2015, which prosecutors claimed was orchestrated to solidify Lee's control over the company. Lee has consistently denied any wrongdoing, stating that he never intended to deceive or harm investors for personal gain. The appeals court rejected the prosecutors' argument that the merger resulted in financial losses for minority shareholders. Over the past decade, Lee has been embroiled in legal battles, including issues linked to the merger that facilitated his succession following his father's incapacitation in 2014 due to a heart attack. Lee served a total of 18 months in prison on bribery charges before being released in 2021 as part of a scandal that triggered widespread protests and led to the ousting of then-President Park Geun-hye in 2017.