Seoul court considers arrest of Samsung vice chairman

January 19, 2017 01:19

A South Korean court is considering whether to approve the arrest of Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, one of the country's wealthiest business leaders, on charges of bribery and other offenses.

Lee, the only son of Samsung's chairman, did not speak to a crowd of reporters when he arrived and left the Seoul Central District Court today. After a four-hour hearing he was taken to a detention center near Seoul to await the court's decision.

If Lee's arrest is approved, prosecutors can detain him for up to 21 days before formally charging him, court spokesman Shin Jae-hwan said. He said the judge will announce a decision on the arrest warrant early tomorrow morning, though the exact timing was unclear.

Samsung is South Korea's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, or chaebol, with businesses encompassing consumer electronics, shipbuilding and life insurance.

Samsung Electronics, the group's crown jewel, is the world's biggest maker of smartphones and computer memory chips. Samsung Electronics and its affiliated companies account for about a third of the market value in South Korea's main stock market. The company had no comment on the hearing today.

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