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Published on 17 Feb 2017
서울중앙지법, 이재용 구속영장 발부
Samsung's heir apparent Lee Jae-yong is now under arrest in connection with the massive corruption scandal gripping Korea.
Samsung's heir apparent Lee Jae-yong is now under arrest in connection with the massive corruption scandal gripping Korea.
Our Hwang Hojun who has been reporting from the independent counsel office since last December is here with us in the studio today.
Hojun.
Good evening Daniel.
We cannot overstate the gravity of this news.
You're absolutely right.
Lee Jae-yong's arrest has sent shockwaves across Korea and abroad as it's expected to have as-yet untold repercussions not only for the investigation but also on the Korean economy.
I mean this is the head of the most powerful company in Korea... who's now in police custody.
The Seoul Central District Court approved the arrest warrant requested by the independent counsel team... in the early hours of Friday morning.
This was the team's second request, which it filed on Tuesday.
In filing for the second warrant, the counsel expanded the charges against Lee to include diverting assets overseas and concealing the gains from a criminal act.
That's on top of the original charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury the team filed against Lee with its first arrest warrant request that was rejected last month.
The court explained its ruling via a text message to reporters, saying "the rationale for and the necessity of Lee's arrest is acknowledged considering the new charges and additional evidence collected."
So just to refresh everybody's memory, the Korean tech giant is accused of giving nearly 38 million dollars... to entities controlled by President Park's confidante Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for support of a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates,.. that's Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries,... that was deemed critical to cementing Lee's succession to the top of Samsung Group. It's the second time the independent counsel sought an arrest warrant.
This was a big battle between Samsung and the probe team
Indeed. Samsung Group is still denying the charges and the conglomerate's decision-making body, the Samsung Future Strategy Office, says it will do its best to prepare for the trial and uncover the truth.
So there may be another battle brewing at this moment between arguably the most powerful company in Korea and the independent counsel team.
During the team's afternoon briefing today, its spokesperson expressed a renewed determination in getting to the bottom of Samsung's ties to the case.
Take a look. "With the arrest warrant issued, the team will be sure to investigate any issues that haven't been adequately covered. And of course we will not only indict Lee but will ensure we are still able to prosecute the case." The initial mandate for the prosecutorial team to complete its investigation is coming up soon.
11 days to be exact, Daniel.
The independent counsel filed for a 30-day extension of its original 90-day investigative mandate on Thursday.
By law, the request for an extension must be made at least three days prior to the deadline but according to the team's spokesperson, it's not legally a problem to make the request earlier.
Considering that the team has had the Samsung chief arrested, but has not been able to search the presidential office premises, a decision made by the Seoul Administrative Court yesterday, observers are say the request for an extension was necessary.
It will now be up to Hwang Kyo-ahn, the prime minister and the acting president, to decide whether to grant the one-time extension. But in the meantime the team vowed to work as fast as it can to connect all of the loose threads of the case.
Right Hojun, Thank-you for that insight.
My pleasure.
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