Close-ups as Samsung chief leaves Seoul court

(16 Feb 2017) The billionaire heir to Samsung, South Korea's most successful and best known conglomerate, made his second attempt on Thursday to block efforts by prosecutors to arrest him on bribery and other charges in connection with a corruption scandal that has engulfed the country's president.
A court hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics Co., dragged on for more than seven hours behind closed doors at Seoul Central District Court, highlighting how much prosecutors and the Samsung heir have at stake.
As Lee left for Seoul Detention Center where he will wait for the court's decision, dozens of protesters opposing and supporting Lee's arrest demonstrated outside the courthouse.
Prosecutors, who have less than two weeks to investigate the corruption scandal unless the National Assembly extends their deadline, are making a second and possibly last attempt to arrest Lee, 48.
A decision on whether to issue the arrest warrant will likely be announced early Friday morning.
The court's rejection of the prosecutors' first request to arrest Lee in January was announced more than 10 hours after the hearing ended.
Prosecutors have accused Lee of giving bribes worth 36 million US dollars to President Park Geun-hye and her long-time friend in order to win government favours for a company leadership transition.
Samsung has denied that it offered bribes or sought any wrongful favours from the president.
If the court approves the warrant, prosecutors will be able to take him into custody for up to 21 days before formally pressing charges. An approval would also help bring bribery charges against President Park.
The court is also considering whether to issue an arrest warrant for Park Sang-jin, a president at Samsung Electronics and head of the Korea Equestrian Federation, who oversaw the company's external relations, including Samsung's contacts with Choi's company in Germany.

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