By Ju-min Park

SEOUL, May 27 (Reuters) - A South Korean high court

began on Monday hearing a prosecution appeal over a decision by

a lower court to clear Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) chairman

Jay Y. Lee of all charges in a case related to a 2015 merger of

Samsung companies.

Prosecutors are appealing against a February ruling that

found Lee not guilty of all charges including accounting fraud

and stock manipulation.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year jail term. Lee denied

wrongdoing, arguing that he and other executives acted on the

belief the merger would benefit shareholders.

Lee was not required to attend Monday's preparatory hearing

at the Seoul High Court. Preparatory hearings are conducted to

set up future schedules.

Shim Gi-ho, one of the prosecutors, said the prosecution

found the lower court's decision "difficult to accept" and

proposed bringing 11 witnesses to the stand in the appeal.

Lawyers for Lee and other defendants opposed the proposal,

saying the witnesses were neither independent from the case nor

likely to reveal new facts.

Baik Kang-jin, the presiding judge, said the prosecution

would have to present sufficient reasons for him to accept the

request to call new witnesses.

The judge scheduled the next preparatory hearing for July

22.

Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) declined to comment on the appeal.

Lee, 55, and other former executives had been accused of

engineering a merger between two Samsung affiliates - Samsung

C&T and Cheil Industries - in a way that dealt

poorly with interests of minority shareholders.

The Seoul Central District Court acquitted Lee and 13 other

defendants of all charges, saying that the merger decision was

reached by the boards of the two companies after consideration.

Lee met Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other senior Chinese

government officials on Sunday on the sidelines of a trilateral

summit between South Korea, China and Japan in Seoul. At the

meeting, Li told Lee that China welcomed further investment by

Samsung, Chinese state media reported.