Lee Jae-yong, center, a vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, for a hearing Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. The Seoul Central District Court will decide whether to arrest Lee after prosecutors requested the arrest earlier this week. AP
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court has begun reviewing the arrest of a Samsung Electronics vice chairman who faces allegations of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.
Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the Samsung chairman, has arrived Wednesday for the hearing at the Seoul Central District Court but said nothing to the huge media gathering awaiting him outside the court.
If the court approves the arrest, Lee will be detained for 20 days. It would mark a stunning fall for a member of the business elite leading South Korea’s most successful company.
A special prosecution team investigating the influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye requested Lee’s arrest, accusing the Samsung heir of bribing Park and her friend who faces a trial for secretly meddling in state affairs.