Prosecutors' Office: "Investigation Team Reported Summary Indictment of Lee Jae-yong, Prosecutors' Office Approved"... Denies Reports of 'Opinion Conflict'

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Supreme Prosecutors' Office denied reports from some media outlets claiming that there was a conflict of opinions between the investigation team and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding the judicial processing of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is accused of illegal propofol use, stating that it is "completely untrue."

On the afternoon of the 4th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "The investigation team reported a plan for summary indictment to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, considering the results of the Investigation Deliberation Committee, the Professional Prosecutors' Meeting, and the suspect's confession and remorse, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office simply approved it," adding, "It is not true at all that the summary indictment was a compromise due to conflicting opinions."

The Violent Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Won Ji-ae) filed a summary indictment against Vice Chairman Lee on the same day, charging him with violating the Narcotics Control Act and imposing a fine of 50 million won.

A summary indictment is a procedure in which a summary order is requested from the court through written examination without referring the case to a formal trial.

Regarding this, some media outlets reported that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team had submitted an opinion to request a formal trial for Vice Chairman Lee, but the Supreme Prosecutors' Office expressed reluctance, ultimately accepting a compromise of summary indictment.

However, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office denied these claims and issued a clarification.

Meanwhile, Lee's legal representative stated, "This was due to medical treatment by a professional doctor during the hospital treatment process," and added, "We will carefully review and decide on future responses."

It is known that Vice Chairman Lee decided to accept the prosecution's disposition following his lawyers' advice that it would be better to conclude the case early to minimize judicial risks, both personally and for the company.

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