Lee Jae-yong, 8 Hours 30 Minutes of 'Marathon Trial'... Second Longest in History (Comprehensive)

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 allegations of accounting fraud at 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 Seongpil Cho, Gimin Lee] The pretrial detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and others ended after 8 hours and 30 minutes.

It is reported that Vice Chairman Lee's side denied most of the charges related to the Samsung merger and succession allegations.

Given the unusually long duration of the warrant examination, the decision on whether to detain Vice Chairman Lee and others is expected to be made in the early hours of the following day.

The warrant substantive examination for Vice Chairman Lee, presided over by Judge Won Jeong-sook of the Seoul Central District Court's warrant division, began at 10:30 a.m. on the 8th and ended around 7 p.m.

Since Vice Chairman Lee's side denied charges of violating the Capital Markets Act (fraudulent trading and market manipulation) and the External Audit Act (accounting fraud), the hearing involved prolonged disputes between the prosecution and defense attorneys.

The warrant examination started with allegations related to fraudulent trading and market manipulation, followed by accounting fraud suspicions.

Prosecutors including Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon of the Economic Crime Division at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol of Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, read out a 150-page warrant request emphasizing the necessity of detention, after which Vice Chairman Lee's side presented their opinions and rebuttals.

The prosecution highlighted concerns over Vice Chairman Lee's potential evidence tampering related to the overall succession process as grounds for detention during the hearing. Evidence tampering is one of the key criteria in deciding detention.

Since Vice Chairman Lee denied the charges during two summonses at the end of last month, stating that he "had no knowledge of or gave no instructions," the prosecution argued that if he is not detained, there is a risk of evidence tampering.

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@

The prosecution has shown confidence in 'substantiating the charges,' a necessary step before issuing a detention warrant, even before the hearing.

The prosecution's position is that the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was a succession work for Vice Chairman Lee's management rights, and that illegal market manipulation and accounting fraud were carried out under the leadership of the group’s top executives during this process.

Last August, the Supreme Court's full bench ruled in the state corruption case that there was an issue of succession work and improper solicitation, recognizing all bribery charges, which is favorable to the prosecution.

On the other hand, Vice Chairman Lee's side argued for non-detention, claiming that most of the necessary evidence has been collected over 1 year and 7 months of investigation, so there is no concern about evidence tampering.

How much the court will acknowledge Vice Chairman Lee's criminal charges that allege the use of various illegal acts before and after the merger to ensure stable succession of management rights is also a key point.

The hearing took a one-hour recess around 1 p.m. for lunch. Until before lunch, disputes mainly revolved around allegations of fraudulent trading and market manipulation. In the afternoon, the focus was on disputes over accounting fraud allegations.

Vice Chairman Lee's questioning continued even after the recess at 4:30 p.m. It is reported that former Chief Choi and former Team Leader Kim later submitted rebuttal opinions.

Among them, former Team Leader Kim was added with perjury charges in this warrant request for testifying as a witness in the 2017 trial of former President Park Geun-hye, stating that the Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries merger was proposed by Cheil Industries and unrelated to Vice Chairman Lee's succession, and he also submitted opinions related to this.

Kim Jong-jung (64), former head of Samsung's MIS Strategy Team (President), who is suspected of illegal management succession involving Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, is attending the warrant hearing on the morning of the 8th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The warrant hearing for Vice Chairman Lee and others lasted over 8 hours, breaking the previous record set in February 2017 during the state corruption case. At that time, the warrant hearing for Vice Chairman Lee, who was charged with bribery, lasted 7 hours and 30 minutes.

The longest warrant hearing on record was for former President Park Geun-hye, who faced state corruption charges, lasting 8 hours and 40 minutes. Professor Jung Kyung-shim of Dongyang University, wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who faced allegations of admission bribery and illegal private equity fund investments, also underwent a lengthy warrant hearing of 6 hours and 50 minutes.

After the warrant hearing, Vice Chairman Lee and others were transferred to Seoul Detention Center to await the results.

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