Expectations rose Wednesday that Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of the Samsung family, could fill a possible power vacuum to be created if the special counsel team’s second request to arrest Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong is accepted by the court.

As market watchers saw the possibility of Lee Boo-jin’s role being reinforced across the No. 1 family-run conglomerate in South Korea, shares of her Hotel Shilla continued rallying for a fourth trading day in a row, from around 42,000 won (S$52) to 47,000 won.

After Park Young-soo’s special counsel team reapplied for an arrest request with the court for the eldest son of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee late Tuesday, Hotel Shilla’s shares jumped around 3 per cent Wednesday.

Read also: Samsung chief appears for 2nd round of questions in graft probe 

On the other hand, Samsung Electronics, led by Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, has been sliding for the past week, from around 1.97 million won to 1.88 million won.

Investors have paid close attention to testimony by Park Won-oh, a former executive at the Korea Equestrian Federation and a close aide to President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Soon-sil. He had reportedly claimed Lee Boo-jin is more supported by her mother Hong Ra-hee, director of the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, than her older brother in terms of succession, according to news reports.

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Choi accused of interfering in state affairs using relationship with President

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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The 47-year-old second daughter is said to resemble her father the most in character and management style among the three children.

The special counsel has sought to arrest the heir with what they contend is based on a more comprehensive investigation into suspicions of his bribery connections to President Park and Choi, pushing Samsung into a state of high alert over the possibility of an arrest issuance and physical detention.

Samsung released a brief but unyielding statement on the reapplication Tuesday night.

“Samsung has never bribed the president wishing for a price or asked for an unfair favour,” the statement said. “(Samsung) will do its best to reveal the truth in court.”

Read also: Choi Soon-sil’s niece admits to extorting donations from Samsung

Samsung’s Future Strategy Office is reportedly preparing measures against newly added accusations in the warrant, including ones that the presidential office exerted power over the Fair Trade Commission to help Samsung comply with the nation’s cross-shareholding regulation in 2015 and on the Financial Services Commission to revise regulations on stock listing for Samsung BioLogics last November.

The Seoul Central District Court is scheduled to review the arrest request at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The business community has remained tense about the impact of the possible arrest of Samsung heir could have on other conglomerates that are also involved in the ongoing bribery scandal. If Lee is arrested, the fallout could reach SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin.

However, many are betting on a scenario where the Seoul court rejects the warrant for Lee while issuing one for Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin, who headed the Korea Equestrian Federation and allegedly had closer connections with Choi.

“Although it is yet unpredictable whether the court would issue an arrest warrant for Lee, it is highly likely that Park would be issued one,” said an industrial source. “Samsung would be expecting this scenario, which is a good defence.”

PETALING JAYA – Slain Kim Jong-nam’s family is uncontactable and not to be seen at their two properties in Macau, says a report.

South Korean’s daily Chosun Ilbo reported that it had visited Jong-nam’s two properties in Macau’s old quarter on Wednesday – an eight-storey apartment and a high-rise condominium – but “no one would talk”.

Jong-nam had moved into the condominium with his family at around 2008 to make it easier for his two children to attend the international school, which is just five minutes away.

However, Jong-nam moved from the condominium unit in 2011 after South Korean residents found out where it was after his son Han-sol brought home a South Korean girlfriend.

Chosun Ilbo noted that there were no signs of Jong-nam’s family anywhere.

Han-sol, 23, last year said he was heading to Macau as he left France, where he studies. But South Korean expats there said they have not seen him recently.

Jong-nam’s daughter Sol-hui, 18, who graduated from school last September, has also not been seen.

“I tried to call Jong-nam’s wife after learning about his assassination on the news last night, but her mobile phone was turned off. They probably had an action plan in case something bad happened to him,” said a family friend.

Jong-nam settled in Macau at around 2002, where he entered on a visitor visa and later gaining citizenship.

One person said Jong-nam regularly frequented three or four Korean restaurants and went to the casinos.

He reportedly did not smoke but drank one to two bottles of soju or 10 shots of boilermakers (a beer cocktail) in one sitting.

Jong-nam was also said to have a dragon tattoo on his stomach and chest, according to a person who spotted him in a sauna.

Until his father Kim Jong-il died in December 2011, Jong-nam travelled widely throughout South-East Asia and Europe.

Read also: Jong-nam fell out of favour after fake passport episode

When Jong-il suffered a massive stroke in August 2008, he flew to France and brought back neurologists to Pyongyang.

It was reported that Jong-nam always flew alone, but would show up with “female companions” when dining in restaurants across the region.

Jong-nam had been described as a “playboy heir-apparent” and reportedly had mistresses in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Read also: Malaysia may have been good hideout for Kim Jong Nam, say observers

However, Jong-nam became depressed and reclusive after his half-brother and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un executed their uncle Jang Song-taek.

He started to limit his travels to South-East Asia after his uncle’s death in December 2013, supposedly because his allowance from Jang had been cut off.

Chosun Ilbo quoted a family friend of Jong-nam who said he had a personality change after his uncle’s death.

“Kim Jong-nam had a bright personality, but he grew depressed after Jang Song-taek was executed and often said ‘life is so sad’ and expressed dismay at how his uncle was killed,” said the family friend.

A North Korean source was also quoted as saying that Jong-nam had made a lot of money by running a trading business with North Korea with his uncle’s help.

“The execution of his uncle and benefactor must have been a huge shock,” said the source.

Jong-nam was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 after being poisoned allegedly by two female operatives from North Korea on Monday.

Read also:
China watching developments closely after death of North Korean leader’s half-brother Kim Jong Nam
China media mum on Jong-nam assassination
‘Jong-nam did not respond to advice to seek asylum in S. Korea’
Kim Jong Nam’s death: Murder only shows up Kim Jong Un’s insecurity 
N Korean leader tried to kill half-brother for 5 years: Intelligence agency

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will return the body of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader at Pyongyang’s request, although there are “procedures to be followed”, the deputy prime minister told reporters on Thursday.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed Pyongyang had made the request when questioned by journalists following a meeting with regional business leaders, footage from the event showed.

“We will facilitate the request by any foreign government although there are procedures to be followed. Our policy is that we have to honour our bilateral relations with any foreign country,” he said

BEIJING – Thousands of Mongolian herders face disastrous livestock losses from dreaded severe weather known as the “dzud”, the Red Cross said Thursday in launching an international emergency aid appeal.

Landlocked Mongolia is grappling for the second straight year with losses from dzud conditions – a dry summer followed by bitter winter cold that leaves livestock and other animals at risk of starvation and exposure on the country’s rugged steppes.

It threatens tens of thousands of herders in a country where almost half the population depends entirely on livestock for food, transportation and income, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said.

Cattle, sheep and other animals usually die en masse in the dzud, weakened by insufficient summer grazing that prevents them building up the fat reserves necessary to withstand winter temperatures, which can plummet as low as -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit).

“In spring, animals give birth and when the livestock are already exhausted from the winter they are at high risk without adequate feed, shelter and veterinarian care, which does not exist in some remote areas of the country,” Nordov Bolormaa, secretary-general of the Mongolian Red Cross said in a statement.

As of early February, more than 42,546 livestock animals had already perished in the current dzud, the statement said, citing official Mongolian figures.

“This figure is expected to grow exponentially in the months ahead when a long harsh spring takes hold after the extremely cold winter,” the Red Cross said.

It added that more than 157,000 people are “at risk” across 17 of Mongolia’s 21 provinces.

Hundreds of thousands of livestock are reported to have died in the 2015-16 dzud.

The relief organisation hopes to raise enough to assist 11,000 of the hardest-hit households, including provision of cash grants, first-aid kits, and funds to help communities prepare for future dzuds.

During the winter of 2015-16, many people sold off their live animals, causing a market oversupply that depressed prices and hurt many of the most vulnerable small herders, said Gwendolyn Pang of the IFRC in Beijing.

She said “many will lose their livelihoods and will have no choice but to migrate to slum areas” outside the capital Ulan Bator or other urban centres.

The dzud strikes the country every few years.

A 2009-2010 dzud brought the most severe winter in memory, leaving dead, frozen animal carcasses strewn across pastoral areas.

At least eight million livestock animals died, according to official estimates.

Thousands of Mongolia households lead a nomadic existence as herders amid Mongolia’s vast plains and mountains, and recurring dzud conditions are blamed for forcing many into a marginalised urban existence in Ulan Bator.