Samsung’s de facto leader imprisoned for bribery will be paroled.


Seoul — Lee Jae-yong was the de facto leader of the expanding Samsung conglomerate. imprisoned South Korea’s Ministry of Justice said on Monday it would be released on parole on Friday for bribery.

The ministry’s parole committee met on Monday, and World War II He decided to release Mr. Lee and 800 other prisoners before the National Liberation Day of August 15, which commemorates the end of Japanese colonial rule of Korea at the end of World War II. South Korea often parols or pardons prisoners to celebrate major national holidays.

Mr. Lee is also known as Jay. Y. Lee was serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for bribing former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was dismissed and dismissed for corruption and abuse of power.

As vice president of Samsung, Mr. Lee has been running the holding since a heart attack left his father, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, unemployed in 2014. His father died last October and Mr. Lee is his only son.

Samsung is the largest and most lucrative of the handful of family-controlled conglomerates or chaebols that have helped transform South Korea from a war-torn agricultural economy to a global export powerhouse. The group’s electronics unit, Samsung Electronics, alone accounts for about one-fifth of the country’s total exports.

But South Koreans are also tired of repeated corruption scandals among chaebol. Mr. Lee’s father was convicted twice on bribery and other corruption charges, but did not spend even a day in jail, leading many to believe Samsung was untouchable.

South Koreans are split over whether Mr. Lee is worthy of parole.

Outside the Justice Department, where the parole committee met on Monday, activists opposed Mr. Lee’s parole and carried banners saying that letting him go without serving a prison sentence would be another example of extreme tolerance towards businessmen convicted of corruption.

Prior to Mr. Lee’s parole, the Justice Department had said it would make it easier for inmates in good standing to apply for parole. Until now, it was rare for the ministry to parole prisoners who served less than 70 percent of their tenure. Mr. Lee has served 60 percent of his tenure, and critics have accused the ministry of changing the parole rules in his favour.

But according to recent polls, most South Koreans supported Mr. Lee’s early release from prison. Other businessmen, pro-business lobbies and even some politicians campaigning for the next March presidential election have called for Mr. Lee’s release.

“Taking into account the national and global economic situation in the midst of the protracted Covid-19 pandemic, we have included Vice President Lee on the list of people to be paroled,” Justice Minister Park Beom-kye said on Monday.

Samsung is run by an army of professional executives. But supporters of Mr. Lee’s parole argued that his imprisonment at a time when the South Korean tech giant must make bold investments and acquisitions amid a global chip shortage creates uncertainty.

Local media raised public concern by reporting that, with Mr. Lee in lockdown, Samsung has delayed key strategic decisions, including the location of a $17 billion chip factory in the US, and that rival chipmakers such as TSMC and Intel are making large investments. .

However, it was unclear how actively Mr. Lee could be involved in Samsung management after his parole. He was prohibited from returning to work for five years, and the Ministry of Justice did not lift the ban.

Mr. Lee is also facing other legal issues. He is being prosecuted for separate crimes such as stock price manipulation and unfair trading. Mr. Lee said he was innocent.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *