South Korean special prosecutors summon Samsung executives

Samsung executives have been summoned by South Korean special prosecutors amid a widening influence-peddling scandal that brought about the impeachment of South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

The company’s co-vice chairman Choi Gee-sung and president Chang Choong-ki were asked to come in for questioning, Hong Jung-seok, a spokesperson for the special prosecutor’s office, told Bloomberg News via text message yesterday. Mr Choi and Mr Chang were expected this morning and would come in as testifiers, meaning they have not been accused of wrongdoing. This status may change, Mr Hong said.

The summons follows last month’s parliamentary grilling of Jay Y Lee, de-facto head of Samsung Group and a co-vice chair of Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of mobile devices. Politicians fired questions to Mr Lee on whether the country’s biggest conglomerate received political favours in return for donations to foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, the president’s friend at the centre of the scandal. Mr Lee had denied allegations during the hearing. A Samsung Group spokeswoman declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, in preliminary results posted last Friday, operating income rose to 9.2 trillion won (€7.4 billion) in the quarter ended December 31st, its biggest profit in three years, the South Korea-based company said. – ( Bloomberg)