"The court should make a decision before I say something; now is not the time," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Seoul.

Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old leader of Samsung Group, is due to appear at a court hearing on Wednesday morning where a judge will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that has engulfed South Korea.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Christine Kim; Editing by Michael Perry)