Samsung’s de-facto leader secured a pardon Friday of his conviction for bribing a former president in a corruption scandal that toppled a previous South Korean government, an act of leniency that underscored the tech company’s huge influence in the nation.
Lee Jae-yong’s pardon is partially symbolic since he was released on parole a year ago after serving 18 months of a prison term that would have ended in July, and critics say the billionaire has remained in control of Samsung even while behind bars. Still, the pardon will allow the heir to the electronics juggernaut to fully resume his management duties and could make it easier for the company to pursue investments and mergers.
The Justice Ministry said President Yoon Suk Yeol, who as a prosecutor investigated the corruption scandal involving Lee, will issue the pardon Monday, a national holiday when some 1,700 people are set to receive clemency, including other top business leaders.
Lee, 54, was convicted in 2017 of bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her close confidante to win government support for a merger between two Samsung affiliates that tightened Lee’s control over the corporate empire. Park and the confidante were also convicted in the scandal, which enraged South Koreans, who staged massive protests for months demanding an end to the shady ties between business and politics. The demonstrations eventually led to Park’s ouster from office.
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Lee still faces a separate trial on charges of stock price manipulation and auditing violations related to the 2015 merger.
Among others set to be pardoned is Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who received a suspended prison term in 2018 on similar charges of bribing Park, whom then-President Moon Jae-in pardoned in December. Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill, and former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo will also receive clemency.
A coalition of civic groups, including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, issued a statement criticizing the move to pardon the business leaders, accusing Yoon of cozying up to “chaebol,” referring to the family-owned conglomerates that dominate the country’s economy.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol’s sell-out (to business) sends a signal to chaebol chiefs that they are free to commit all the crimes they want,” the groups said, accusing Yoon of damaging the rule of law.
Former President Park was convicted of a broad range of corruption crimes, including colluding with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to take millions of dollars in bribes and extortion from Samsung and other major companies while she was in office.
She faced a prison term of more than two decades before Moon pardoned her in December, citing a need to promote unity in the politically divided nation. Choi remains in jail. Chang, of Dongkuk Steel Mill, was released on parole in 2018 with about six months left on a 3 1/2-year prison term on charges that he embezzled millions of dollars in corporate funds and used some of it to gamble in Las Vegas.
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Han, the justice minster, said that the government did not consider the pardons of any convicted politicians or government employees this time, saying that the focus was on the economy
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Source: South Korea to pardon Samsung’s Lee, other corporate giants | AP News
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