Lee Jae-yong's Side Requests Convening of Prosecution Review Committee to Assess Indictment Validity

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who has been indicted on charges including bribery to former President Park Geun-hye and 'shadow confidante' Choi Soon-sil, is attending the second retrial hearing held on the 22nd at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Lee Jae-yong (52), Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who is under prosecution investigation over suspicions surrounding the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger and management succession, has requested the convening of the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee to assess the appropriateness of indictment.

According to business and legal circles on the 3rd, Lee and some president-level executives submitted an application to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office the day before, requesting the Investigation Deliberation Committee to review whether to indict or not.

The Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee was introduced in 2018 to determine whether to continue investigations, whether to indict or not, whether to request or re-request arrest warrants, and to evaluate the appropriateness and legality of indicted or non-indicted cases. The application for convening can be made by complainants, victims, suspects, or other parties involved in the case to the citizen committee of the relevant prosecutor's office.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is reportedly planning to hold a prosecutors' citizen committee meeting soon to discuss forwarding the case involving Lee and others to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Deliberation Committee. If the prosecutors' citizen committee decides to convene, the Prosecutor General must accept this and convene the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee.

With Lee's side applying for the convening of the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee, it is known that the direction of handling the suspects related to the 'Samsung merger and succession suspicions' and the decision on indictment are increasingly likely to be determined by external experts outside the prosecution.

The Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun) summoned Lee twice as a suspect on the 26th and 29th of last month and is internally reviewing the level of judicial action.

Earlier, the prosecution summoned and investigated former Samsung top executives such as Choi Ji-sung (69), former head of Samsung Future Strategy Office (Vice Chairman), Kim Jong-jung (64), former head of the Future Strategy Office Strategy Team (President), Choi Chi-hoon (63), Chairman of Samsung C&T Board, Lee Young-ho (61), President of Samsung C&T, Jung Hyun-ho (60), Head of Samsung Electronics Business Support TF (President), Kim Tae-han (63), President of Samsung Bio, and other current and former senior executives of integrated Samsung C&T and affiliated companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.