Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong Enters 28 Minutes Before Interrogation Begins

Crowded with People... Citizens Shouting Support Messages

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 Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the morning of the 8th, when Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong appeared at the court for the warrant hearing, the area in front of the Seoul Central District Court was packed with numerous reporters and citizens. Reflecting Samsung Electronics' international stature, prominent foreign journalists and cameras were also noticeable. Some citizens shouted messages of support toward Vice Chairman Lee as he got out of the car and moved while surrounded by the press.

Vice Chairman Lee arrived somewhat early, about 28 minutes before the hearing began. Wearing a white mask, he stared straight ahead and did not respond to reporters' questions. Following him, former Samsung Future Strategy Office Chief Choi Ji-sung and former Future Strategy Office Strategy Team Leader Kim Jong-jung also walked toward the court with stern expressions without saying a word. The hearing started at 10:30 a.m.

The hearing is expected to be a so-called "spear and shield" confrontation. The prosecution team includes Lee Bok-hyun, head prosecutor of the Economic Crime Criminal Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who led the investigation, along with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon from the same division, Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul and other prosecutors from the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, totaling five members. It is known that the prosecution is putting all efforts into securing Vice Chairman Lee's custody. The court's decision on this day will directly relate to either validating the legitimacy of the 1 year and 7 months of investigation or to criticism of excessive abuse of prosecutorial power.

On the other hand, Samsung has assembled a luxurious legal team to counter the prosecution's arguments. According to legal circles, former Chief Justice Han Seung recently joined Vice Chairman Lee's defense team. Former Chief Justice Han is an elite legal professional who served as a senior judicial research officer at the Supreme Court and is recently considered a candidate for the new Supreme Court Justice. In addition, about 8 to 9 lawyers, including former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Choi Jae-kyung and former judges, are involved in the hearing. Due to the vast amount of the prosecution's warrant application and evidence materials, the hearing is likely to be longer than expected. Accordingly, the decision on detention may come after midnight, around the early hours of the 9th.

After the hearing, it will be the time for Judge Won Jeong-sook, who is in charge of warrants. Judge Won will review the claims presented by the prosecution and Samsung during the hearing in her office and examine the warrant application and evidence materials to decide whether to issue the arrest warrant. Vice Chairman Lee's case was assigned to Judge Won according to the usual "random computerized allocation" method. Judge Won has been handling warrant duties at the Seoul Central District Court since February. She is from Gumi, Gyeongbuk, graduated from Gumi Girls' High School and Kyungpook National University, passed the 40th judicial examination in 1998, and was appointed as a judge at Daegu District Court in 2001. Judge Won attracted media attention in March for swiftly reviewing and issuing the arrest warrant for Jo Joo-bin (24, detained and indicted), the operator of the Telegram "Doctor's Room."

However, whether Vice Chairman Lee and others will be detained is expected to take considerable time for review and decision due to the enormous volume of related records and materials. The detention decision is likely to be announced in the early hours of the 9th. Vice Chairman Lee and others will wait at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province until the hearing results are announced. The warrant applications submitted by the prosecution for the three individuals each amount to about 150 pages, with submitted materials totaling 400 volumes and 200,000 pages.

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