Detained Lee Jae-yong Appears for Detention Hearing "..."

Detention Decision After 2 Years and 4 Months
Awaiting at Seoul Detention Center After Interrogation
Decision Expected Tonight or Early Tomorrow
Many Legal Experts Believe Detention Is Unlikely

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who is under prosecution investigation for allegations of unfair succession of management rights related to the merger of the former Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, as well as accounting fraud allegations involving Samsung Biologics, is entering the courtroom to attend the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 8th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyewon Kim, Hyungmin Kim] The pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review) for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (52) began on the morning of the 8th. The decision on whether to detain him is expected to be made late that night.

Vice Chairman Lee is once again facing detention two years and four months after being released on probation in February 2018 during the appeal trial related to the national corruption scandal. On the 4th, the prosecution requested arrest warrants from the court for Lee and three current and former Samsung executives on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act (fraudulent trading and market manipulation) and the External Audit Act.

Wearing a white mask, Lee arrived at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul at 10:02 a.m. that day. Despite a barrage of questions from reporters such as "Did you ever order or receive reports about illegal mergers?" he did not react and proceeded directly to courtroom 321 in the West Building where the hearing was held. Following Lee, former Samsung Future Strategy Office chief Choi Ji-sung (69, Vice Chairman) and former Future Strategy Office Strategy Team leader Kim Jong-joong (64, President) also appeared at the court. About 100 reporters, including foreign media such as AFP and AP, gathered in front of the West Building of the Seoul Central District Court that day.

The hearing was presided over by Judge Won Jeong-sook, who is in charge of warrant reviews at the Seoul Central District Court. After the hearing, Lee and the others will wait at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province until the results are announced. Due to the extensive prosecution documents and evidence submitted, the hearing is expected to last longer than anticipated.

The prosecution alleges that during the 2015 merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, Lee and others manipulated the merger ratio to favor Lee’s succession of management rights, adjusted market prices accordingly, and concealed this by committing accounting fraud at Samsung BioLogics. However, Samsung denies all these allegations and argues that Lee does not meet any of the three legal grounds for detention under the Criminal Procedure Act, insisting that he should be investigated and tried without detention. In the legal community, considering that arrest warrants for Kim Tae-han, President of Samsung BioLogics, who is under investigation for the same case, were rejected twice, many believe the likelihood of Lee’s arrest warrant being granted is low.

As Lee faces the possibility of re-arrest, Samsung’s sense of crisis has reached its peak. With increased management uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by the US-China trade dispute and worsening Korea-Japan tensions, Lee’s detention could lead to a 'leadership vacuum,' potentially halting various business and investment activities. An analysis by the Global Big Data Research Institute of over 34,000 related terms about Lee from 11 channels excluding news between the 3rd and 7th revealed that the public tends to favor leniency rather than strict punishment regarding the arrest warrant request.

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