Man arrested for video of chairman of Samsung

Seoul prosecutors arrested a man last month on charges of orchestrating the recording of a lurid video involving Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, officials said Tuesday.

In July 2016, Newstapa, an online news outlet run by the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, filed a report saying the business tycoon paid money to suspected sex workers five times between 2011 and 2013 at his houses in southern Seoul.

In the video clips released by the news outlet, a conversation between a man, who appears to be Lee, and the women indicate some sort of sexual services were arranged between them.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office arrested the suspect, who is only known by his surname Sun, on Feb. 25 for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc., of Sexual Crimes.

He is known to be a former employee at an affiliate of CJ, South Korea’s food and entertainment conglomerate.

CJ, run by Lee’s relatives, was part of Samsung Group before it was separated in 1993. At the time of the recording, the two groups were involved in a dispute over assets left by Lee’s father Lee Byung-chul, who founded the group.

The man resigned after he was arrested, according to CJ Group.

“It is a crime of a former employee that has nothing to do with the company,” the group said. “The group who took the clips earlier asked us to buy them, but we have rejected them.”

Prosecutors are looking into whether the suspect, who allegedly ordered the women to videotape Lee, blackmailed Samsung Group to receive money.

They will also investigate if prostitution actually took place and if so, whether the conglomerate was involved in the process.

Lee was hospitalized in May 2014 after suffering a heart attack.

His son and de facto leader of the group Lee Jae-yong has been put into custody over allegations of bribery in connection to the impeached President Park Geun-hye.

The younger Lee’s trial will begin today.

Yonhap