Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo, left, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong



Special prosecution team says it weighed justice over economic impact

By Kim Bo-eun

The independent counsel team sought an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Monday, on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury in the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.

This is the first time an arrest warrant has been requested for a chief of a conglomerate embroiled in the scandal. It remains to be seen whether the court will issue the warrant and put Lee behind bars. A local court will decide Wednesday.

"The impact of Lee's arrest on the economy cannot be dismissed, but we put more weight on establishing justice," team spokesman Lee Kyu-chul said.

Lee, who underwent 22 hours of questioning last week, is suspected of providing Choi and her cronies with a total of 43 billion won ($36.37 million) in return for Cheong Wa Dae exerting influence for a merger of its affiliates in 2015. "The total amount of bribes includes not only the amount actually provided but also that which Samsung promised to pay," the spokesman said.

The merger of the Samsung affiliates was designed for Lee to increase his share in the company for a smooth power transfer from his father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Samsung signed a 22-billion-won consulting contract with Core Sports (renamed Widec Sports), Choi's company in Germany, to cultivate dressage competitors, and provided 3.8 billion won. The money, however, was spent only on a single competitor — Choi's daughter Chung Yoo-ra.

The group also provided 1.6 billion won to the Winter Sports Elite Center established by Choi's niece Jang Si-ho.

In addition, Samsung contributed 20.4 billion won to the K-sports and Mir foundations controlled by Choi, the largest amount provided among 53 conglomerates.

In return for the funds, Cheong Wa Dae is suspected of having pressured the National Pension Service (NPS), which held a deciding vote in the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, to support the move, even though the it was expected to generate losses for the NPS.

While the counsel team stated in the warrant request that Choi was the money recipient, it said the money can be seen as bribe for the President because it had confirmed Park and Choi shared economic interests.

The vice chairman also faces embezzlement charges because he used the company's funds to facilitate his succession within the group.

Lee is additionally accused of committing perjury at a hearing of the National Assembly's probe into the scandal, where he said he had not known about Choi before the allegations emerged.

Samsung Group issued a statement saying, "It is difficult to agree with the special prosecutor's decision, because Samsung did not make contributions in order to receive favors."

Meanwhile, the team decided not to seek arrest warrants for three other Samsung senior executives — Co-Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung, President Chang Choong-ki and President Park Sang-jin — who are also linked to the allegations.

The counsel team, however, did indict NPS chief Moon Hyung-pyo over abuse of power for allegedly pressuring the NPS to vote for the merger when he was minister of health and welfare. He also faces charges of perjury for denying the allegations at the Assembly's hearing in December.