Anchor: A local court held a hearing to review an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong over his possible involvement in alleged irregularities in a 2015 merger between Samsung affiliates. The 51-year-old Samsung heir appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on Monday morning and entered the courtroom without answering questions from reporters.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: 

[Sound bite: Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, entering the Seoul Central District Court (June 8, 2020)]
(Reporter: Regarding the illegal merger allegations, have you ever received related reports or given an order?)
(Reporter: Do you still deny circumstantial evidence that there were orders?)
"... "

Asked if he ordered the 2015 merger that facilitated his managerial succession from his ailing father, Samsung Group scion Lee Jae-yong did not respond.  

Surrounded by reporters, Lee on Monday entered the Seoul courthouse for a warrant hearing that will decide if he should be placed behind bars throughout his trial.

Prosecutors suspect Samsung management lowered the share prices of Samsung C&T while inflating that of Cheil Industries to help Lee gain control of the conglomerate through the multilayered circular shareholdings of Samsung's business divisions.

The de facto leader of Samsung Group came with two of his former executives who were also charged with unfair trading and stock price manipulation among other charges. 

Prosecutors also suspect they inflated the value of Samsung Bioepis, a joint venture between Samsung BioLogics and U.S. firm Biogen. Samsung BioLogics is an affiliate of Cheil Industries.  

The prosecution has been investigating the succession scandal for at least a year and a half, securing hundreds of Samsung's internal documents. Against the prosecution's 150-page long warrant request, Lee's defense counsel argued that the 51-year old defendant neither gave instructions nor received reports related to the suspicious business deals. 

After the hearing, the court's decision is expected to come Monday night or early Tuesday morning, until which Lee is supposed to standby at a detention facility.

Lee previously served jail time and was released in 2018 after an appeals court reduced his initial five-year prison sentence from a bribery scandal that also led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

The Supreme Court in the following year overturned the lower court’s conviction and ordered the appeals court to review the case.  

The lower court earlier recognized three-point-six billion won that Samsung provided to support the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the ex-president's confidant, as bribes. However, the top court argued that an additional five billion won funneled to Choi from Samsung should also be considered bribery.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.