Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong is to be questioned as a suspect in a South Korean bribery case that led to the president’s impeachment, prosecutors have said.

Lee Jae-yong, the electronic group’s vice-chairman, will be summoned to face questions by investigators looking into whether Samsung bribed a jailed confidante of President Park Geun-hye, said Hong Jong-seok, a spokesman for the special prosecutor team investigating the case.

Hong said possible favours include getting the government’s backing on a controversial Samsung merger in 2015 that was opposed by minority shareholders. Lee and members of his family were the biggest beneficiaries of the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.

Prosecutors are expected to question Lee on Thursday regarding why Samsung sent corporate funds to Choi Soon-sil, the jailed confidante, including buying costly horses for her daughter, who was on the national dressage team.

When Lee appeared at a public hearing last month, he told lawmakers that he was not aware of the decision to fund Choi’s daughter. He also denied Samsung had tried to win favours through the funds.



Lee, the only son of Samsung’s ailing chairman and a grandson of the company’s founder, acknowledged that it was “inappropriate” but “inevitable” to send money to Choi. He did not elaborate further.

Samsung Group did not immediately respond to an email on Wednesday seeking comment.

Two Samsung executives, including a man known as Lee’s mentor, were questioned in the case earlier this week.

Park’s powers have been suspended since 9 December, when South Korea’s opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach her over the scandal. Her trial is being held at the constitutional court to decide whether she will be permanently removed from power.