Live on TV: Samsung heir grilled by South Korean lawmakers
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — It’s a rare moment of public reckoning for South Korea’s most powerful business leaders and possibly the worst day for Samsung’s billionaire heir, courtesy of the country’s biggest political scandal in years.
Lee Jae-yong, 48-year-old vice chairman at Samsung Electronics and the only son of the ailing chairman, was shouted down and admonished by lawmakers for the most part of the 2 1/2-hour parliamentary questioning on Tuesday morning. Lawmakers questioned him on wide-ranging issues from why Samsung sponsored the family of President Park Geun-hye’s confidante to Samsung’s treatment of sickened workers.
The hearing, which is expected to go on all day, was broadcast live on major TV channels.
Lee fielded questions for the first time in parliament as part of the unprecedented questioning of nine leaders from South Korea’s biggest business groups about their possible roles in the scandal involving President Park and Choi Soon-sil, her shadowy confidante.