Prosecution Likely to Conclude 'Lee Jae-yong Indictment' This Week

Organizational Restructuring and Personnel Changes Made Easier... Will the Investigation Review Committee's Recommendation Be Accepted?

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The prosecution is expected to decide whether to indict Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong as early as this week.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun) is highly likely to make a final decision on how to handle Vice Chairman Lee's case this week. Since Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae plans to pass the 'Prosecutor Organization Reform Plan' at the Cabinet meeting by early next week at the latest and conduct personnel reshuffles around that time, it is analyzed that this week is the appropriate time to decide on Vice Chairman Lee's indictment.

Moreover, it is likely that Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun, the lead prosecutor in charge of the Samsung investigation, will be transferred in this mid-level personnel reshuffle. With Lee Jung-hyun, the first deputy chief prosecutor who had been overseeing Vice Chairman Lee's case, already moved to the position of head of the Public Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, replacing the last remaining senior member of the investigation team beforehand makes it easier to wrap up the case, which is expected to influence the timing.

Having received the prosecution investigation review committee's recommendation to suspend the investigation or not indict, the prosecution is likely to propose a compromise such as 'suspension of indictment.' This means some charges are acknowledged but no indictment is made, which does not go against the recommendation while preserving the legitimacy of the investigation.

However, the possibility of the prosecution pushing forward with indictment is not entirely ruled out. The prosecution maintains that it has secured sufficient evidence to prove the charges, and there is an incentive to avoid appearing to admit that it conducted an excessive investigation, which could lead to proceeding with the indictment.

A variable is the weekly report scheduled for the 19th between Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon. Important matters such as the handling of Vice Chairman Lee's case should be reported face-to-face between Prosecutor General Yoon and Prosecutor Lee, but since early July, these two have been conducting business only through written reports.

A legal community official said, "The prolonged review period, including two years of investigation and two months since the investigation review committee's decision, has been a considerable burden on the prosecution," adding, "Ultimately, since the situation can change again depending on organizational restructuring and personnel changes, it is highly likely that the decision on whether to indict Vice Chairman Lee will be handled beforehand and moved on."

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