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
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
