SEOUL: Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee left a Seoul court after more than eight hours on Thursday to await a decision on whether he will be arrested over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that has engulfed President Park Geun-hye.
The 48-year-old Lee, wearing a dark coat and navy tie, kept his head down and did not answer reporters’ questions as he left the Seoul Central District Court after the closed-door hearing, and headed to a detention center pending a judge’s ruling.
A decision may come late on Thursday or early Friday, based on previous instances. Last month, the same court rejected the special prosecutor’s request that Lee be arrested.
“The basic relationship of the facts and the structure of the argument were not very different from the previous warrant,” one of Lee’s lawyers, Song Wu-cheol, told reporters outside the court.
“I believe the court will make a wise decision,” he said.
The corruption scandal erupted late last year and has engulfed South Korea’s political and business elite.
Park was impeached by parliament in December over accusations that she colluded with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back the president’s policy initiatives.
Park has been stripped of her powers while the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold her impeachment. The court said on Thursday it planned to wrap up hearings in the case by Feb. 24.
Park has denied wrongdoing, as has her friend, Choi.
The special prosecutor’s office has focused its investigations on Samsung Group’s relationship with Park. Lee and the Samsung Group deny any wrongdoing.
‘Never bribed’
Prosecutors accuse Lee in his capacity as the head of South Korea’s largest conglomerate of pledging South Korean Won 43 billion ($37.7 million) to a business and organizations backed by Choi in exchange for support of a 2015 merger of two Samsung companies.
That funding includes Samsung’s sponsorship of the equestrian career of Choi’s daughter, who is in detention in Denmark after being sought by South Korean authorities, prosecutors say.
They are also seeking the arrest of the president of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, Park Sang-jin, who also heads the Korea Equestrian Federation and attended Thursday’s hearing with Lee.
In January, the court rejected the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Lee.
But a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday it had since then expanded the charges against Lee to include hiding the proceeds of a criminal act, as well as bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury.
On Wednesday, Samsung Group repeated an earlier denial on its official Twitter account: “Samsung has absolutely never bribed the president seeking something in return or sought illicit favors.”
“We will do our best for the truth to be revealed in court,” it said.
If Lee is arrested it could deal a serious blow to Samsung, the world’s biggest maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-screen televisions, potentially hampering strategic decision-making such as new investments and acquisitions.
Park, who remains in the presidential Blue House, could become the first democratically elected leader in South Korea to be forced from office.
Also on Thursday, the Seoul Administrative Court rejected a request by the special prosecutor to search the presidential Blue House, which follows an earlier failed attempt to do so.
Samsung chief awaits arrest decision
Samsung chief awaits arrest decision
Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector is a new economic engine between Riyadh and Paris, says ambassador
RIYADH: Culture has become a fundamental pillar in bilateral relations between France and Saudi Arabia, according to the French Ambassador to the Kingdom, Patrick Maisonnave.
Maisonnave noted its connection to the entertainment and tourism sectors, which makes it a new engine for economic cooperation between Riyadh and Paris.
He told Al-Eqtisadiah during the opening ceremony of La Fabrique in the Jax district of Diriyah that cultural cooperation with Saudi Arabia is an important element for its attractiveness in the coming decades.
La Fabrique is a space dedicated to artistic creativity and cultural exchange, launched as part of a partnership between the Riyadh Art program and the French Institute in Riyadh.
Running from Jan. 22 until Feb 14, the initiative will provide an open workspace that allows artists to develop and work on their ideas within a collaborative framework.
Launching La Fabrique as a space dedicated to artistic creativity
The ambassador highlighted that the transformation journey in the Kingdom under Vision 2030 has contributed to the emergence of a new generation of young artists and creators, alongside a growing desire in Saudi society to connect with culture and to embrace what is happening globally.
He affirmed that the relationship between the two countries is “profound, even cultural par excellence,” with interest from the Saudi side in French culture, matched by increasing interest from the French public and cultural institutions unfolding in the Kingdom.
Latest estimates indicate that the culture-based economy represents about 2.3 percent of France’s gross domestic product, equivalent to more than 90 billion euros ($106.4 billion) in annual revenues, according to government data. The sector directly employs more than 600,000 people, making it one of the largest job-creating sectors in the fields of creativity, publishing, cinema, and visual arts.
Saudi Arabia benefiting from French experience in the cultural field
Maisonnave explained that France possesses established cultural institutions, while Saudi Arabia is building a strong cultural sector, which opens the door for cooperation opportunities.
This comes as an extension of the signing of 10 major cultural agreements a year ago between French and Saudi institutions, aiming to enhance cooperation and transfer French expertise and knowledge to contribute to the development of the cultural system in the Kingdom.
He added that experiences like La Fabrique provide an opportunity to meet the new generation of Saudi creators, who have expressed interest in connecting with French institutions and artists in Paris and France.
La Fabrique encompasses a space for multiple contemporary artistic practices, including performance arts, digital and interactive arts, photography, music, and cinema, while providing the public with an opportunity to witness the stages of producing artistic works and interact with the creative process.
