The Segye Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, reported on July 22 that the police were pondering over launching a police investigation into Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s prostitution scandal.
An official from Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said on July 22, “As the prostitution allegations came to the fore, we will consider possible charges against those who were involved.”
The newspaper said: “The police are said to have walked around the allegations, considering pressing sex-trafficking and blackmail charges against those who were involved. The police will review the statute of limitations for the case and discuss whether the case is worthy of police investigation. Then, they will take a stance.”
Lee, 74, has been hospitalized since he collapsed from a heart attack in May 2014. Lee is still unconscious.
Korean news outlet NewsTapa has recently aired video footage showing Lee paying sex workers at home. NewsTapa said it had obtained the video from an anonymous informant. NewsTapa reported that the video was filmed on five occasions between December 2011 and June 2013 at Lee's residence in Samseong-dong and a secret rental house in Nonhyeon-dong, both in southern Seoul.