운명의 날 앞둔 삼성... "위기 극복 위한 경영 정상화 절실" 호소

Before the Seoul Central District Court decides whether it needs to issue an arrest warrant against Samsung's de facto head Lee Jae-yong as prosecutors have requested,... we wanted to tell you more about the charges facing the business tycoon.
Our Kim Bo-kyoung reports.
Prosecutors have been investigating Lee Jae-yong over two main charges.
The first is the controversial 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.
Lee is accused of intentionally manipulating the stock price lowering the value of Samsung C&T's shares and inflating Cheil Industries' to make sure the merger went through without a hitch,... which enhanced Lee's power over the group.
Lee is also accused of allegedly inflating the value of the pharmaceutical company Samsung Biologics by committing accounting fraud,... which was again seen as a bid to further cement his power over the group and facilitate a clean succession from his ailing father, Lee Kun-hee.
Although prosecutors have long been investigating this case,... requesting an arrest warrant surprised Samsung Group as Lee had previously requested an external committee to decide whether such an investigation was required.
Samsung Group issued a statement on Sunday, a day before the court's review,... rebutting some of the reports surrounding the case.
The company underlined that Samsung is facing unprecedented times amid the COVID-19 outbreak and the trade war between China and the U.S.,... and asked that the court "pave the way for the company to normalize its management structure."
Samsung, the world's biggest producer of chips and smartphones, is worried that if the warrant gets the green light,... the power vacuum will jeopardize management of the group at a trying time for all players in the global tech industry.
Industry watchers previously predicted more than half of computer chipmakers around the world would see their sales drop in the second quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
KIM Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.