The Samsung logo is located in the office of a Korean company in Gangnam, downtown Seoul. (iStock)
On Friday, the actual leader of the imprisoned Samsung Group was released on parole, which is the latest example of South Korea’s long-term release of business leaders imprisoned for economic reasons for corruption or tax evasion.
According to Forbes data, Lee Jae-yong ranks as the 202th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$11.4 billion. In January, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for bribery, embezzlement of public funds and other crimes related to the United States. The corruption scandal that led to the resignation of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
But in recent months, politicians and business leaders have increasingly called for his early release because they claim that there may be a leadership vacuum in the largest conglomerate in the South.
The Justice Department announced on Monday that he had been released on parole in the early release of about 800 people, citing concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 53-year-old Lee bowed to reporters waiting outside the detention center south of Seoul and told them, “I have caused too much attention to people. I’m really sorry.”
Wearing a black suit, he added, “I am listening carefully to your worries, criticisms, worries, and high expectations of me. I will do my best.” Then he was driven away by a black luxury car.
After Park Geun-hye stepped down, Lee was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for the first time in 2017, and then was released the following year after the Court of Appeal dismissed most of his bribery convictions and sentenced him to probation.
However, the Supreme Court later ordered Li to face a retrial, convicting him again and imprisoning him.
His parole is not the end of his legal suffering, because he is still on trial for allegedly manipulating stocks, which effectively eases his control of the family business group, which is the same as his conviction for bribing Park Geun-hye.
Song Won-geun, an economics professor at Kyungsang National University, told AFP that this is undoubtedly preferential treatment, especially considering that a separate trial is still in progress.
South Korea’s top tycoons have a long history of being accused of bribery, corruption, tax evasion, or other crimes.
However, many convicted persons were subsequently commuted or suspended on appeal. Some of them (including Lee’s father, the late Samsung chairman Lee Kin-hee, who was twice convicted) were pardoned by the president in recognition of their “contribution to the national economy.” “”.
The Blue House of the Presidential Palace insisted that Lee’s parole was a decision made “for the benefit of the country.”
“We hope that our compatriots can also understand,” a Blue House official told reporters.
According to data from the Ministry of Justice, of all offenders released on parole from 2011 to 2020, only about 0.3% have sentences of less than 70%.
But a rule change that came into effect recently reduced the percentage of prisoners who must serve a sentence before being eligible for parole to 60%, which was passed a few weeks ago by Lee.
So far, the Samsung Group is the largest of the family-controlled empires known as chaebols, and it occupies a dominant position in South Korea, the world’s 12th largest economy. Its flagship subsidiary, Samsung Electronics, is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, and Jay Rong Lee serves as the vice chairman.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on his release.
Lee’s imprisonment did not hinder the company’s performance in any way. Samsung announced last month that its profit soared by more than 70% in the second quarter, and the coronavirus-driven home office boosted demand for devices using its memory chips.
The chaebol family usually holds only a small amount of ownership in its empire, but maintains control through a complex network of cross-shareholdings between units.
Last year, Li promised to end the company’s family inheritance rights and said that he would not pass on his role to his children because he bowed and apologized for multiple disputes.
Despite the controversy, the leaders of South Korea’s four major conglomerates SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Group and Samsung met with President Moon Jae-in in June and asked him to pardon Lee.
Opinion polls also show that more and more Koreans support his release on parole, which was supported by more than 66% of respondents in the recent Realmeter survey.
But Vladimir Tikhonov, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo, has a different view.
He told AFP: “The release of him did not follow conventional law enforcement practices, which shows that his wealth may be a factor.”
“This deviates from the notion that everyone is equal before the law.”
