Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and others' warrant hearing on the 8th
Results expected early morning on the 9th
Prosecution pushes for arrest warrant... "Self-nullification of the Investigation Deliberation Committee system" criticism arises
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong stands again at the crossroads of detention. It has been 2 years and 4 months since he was freed from confinement. The decision on whether to detain Vice Chairman Lee is expected to be made on the night of the 8th or the early morning of the 9th. Inside and outside the legal community, there is criticism that the prosecution's insistence on requesting an arrest warrant while the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee procedures are underway renders the system they established as a reform measure meaningless.
According to the court on the 5th, Judge Won Jeong-sook, head of the warrant division at the Seoul Central District Court, will conduct a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for Vice Chairman Lee at 10:30 a.m. on the 8th in Courtroom 321, West Building of the Seoul Court Complex, and will review the necessity of detention. Judge Won will also review the issuance of arrest warrants for Choi Ji-sung, former head of Samsung Future Strategy Office (Vice Chairman), and Kim Jong-jung, former head of the strategy team at the Future Strategy Office (President), who were jointly requested.
On the morning of the previous day, the Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun) requested arrest warrants for Vice Chairman Lee and two others on charges including unfair trading and market manipulation under the Capital Markets Act, and violations of the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies. This came just two days after Vice Chairman Lee's side applied to the prosecution for convening the Investigation Deliberation Committee to have external experts assess the validity of the indictment.
Samsung Group is unable to hide its dismay, citing concerns over a recurrence of the leadership vacuum experienced in 2017 and the prosecution's nullification of the Investigation Deliberation Committee system. The 'judicial risk,' which seemed to be nearing an end, has instead grown larger, causing Samsung's 'management clock' to stop again. Samsung, which holds over 110 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents, had been exploring major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals domestically and internationally around the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now effectively unable to conduct normal management activities amid the leadership's detention crossroads.
A Samsung official said, "There is nothing else to do or say except to quietly await the results of the warrant substantive examination." Vice Chairman Lee's legal team stated, "We have cooperated sincerely with the investigation over the past few years, and it is regrettable that the request for an arrest warrant was made while the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Citizen Committee was in the process of deciding whether to refer the matter. It seems to undermine the legitimate right to seek expert review and objective judgment from the public's perspective."
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