Lee Jae-yong is already being re-tried on charges of bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with a corruption scandal that brought down former South Korean president Park Geun-hye. — Reuters pic
The merger case is separate from his ongoing retrial, but adds to the difficulties for the Samsung group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in the world's 12th-largest economy. Prosecutors had also asked for a warrant against two former Samsung executives over their role in the merger, but Yonhap said they also avoided arrest.
Lee attended the hearing, which Yonhap said lasted for about nine hours, and then awaited the court's decision at a detention centre. He emerged at about 2.40am today and gave a brief greeting to reporters but did not answer a question on how he felt about the decision.The merger transaction was seen as helping ensure a smooth third-generational power transfer to Lee, a scion of Samsung's founding family.
The prosecutors' request came weeks after Lee issued a wide-ranging apology for company misconduct and promised to end the line of family succession.