Samsung Electronics Vice President Jay Y. Lee received presidential pardon on Friday for his role in a 2016 political scandal, a move the South Korean government believes is necessary for the largest chaebol in the country can help stabilize the national economy.
“In an effort to overcome the economic crisis by revitalizing the economy, Samsung Electronics Vice President Lee Jae-yong … will be reinstated”the Korean government said in a joint press release from its ministries, according to Bloomberg News.
Lee, 54, known as Lee Jae-yong in Korea, was arrested in February 2017 on suspicion of being complicit in Samsung’s payment of millions in bribes to various organizations linked to a presidential adviser.
The bribes were intended to win the favor of a proposed merger $ 8 billion of two units of the Samsung group.
In August 2017, Lee was convicted of perjury, embezzlement, concealment of assets outside the country, and being one of five Samsung executives who paid $ 6.4 million in bribes to former South Korean President Park Geun- hye.
The swift trial and fall from grace did not last long. Lee’s sentence was cut in half in an appeal hearing in February 2018, and key allegations of corruption and embezzlement were “Suspended”allowing him to leave prison after only six months.
A member of the National Assembly at the time said the ruling “Confirmed once again that Samsung is above the law and above the court.”
In early 2021, Lee’s appeals led to a retrial, which sentenced him to 30 months. Lee was granted probation in August 2021 after serving 18 of the 30 months. Now those accusations are gone.
Back to work at Samsung as usual
While on probation, Lee could not officially take a job, even though it was clear that he kept his stature in the family business. Lee joined South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in providing President Biden with a tour of a Samsung chip plant in May.
Bloomberg reported that Lee received business reports from Samsung, even if he was unable to act accordingly. What this forgiveness could do, in addition to stabilizing the markets, is to make Lee’s rise official.
He had been a de facto leader of the company after his father’s heart attack and hospitalization in 2014, but his criminal case prevented a real transition after Lee Kun-hee’s death in 2020.
Lee Kun-hee was also extensively pardoned by South Korea, without ever having been formally arrested or served in prison for corruption, tax evasion and breach of trust in 1996 and 2009. The position of president has remained vacant at Samsung since Lee Kun-hee’s death.
By his own grace, Lee is free to officially take the reins of Samsung, if he can also overcome separate allegations relating to a merger of Samsung subsidiaries.
Shin Dong-bin, president of Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth family-owned conglomerate, was also pardoned this week. That forgiveness was also clearly focused on supporting the economy against inflation, supply chain crises and global tensions.
“With the urgency of overcoming the national economic crisis, we have carefully selected the economic leaders who drive the engine of national growth through active technological investments and job creation to be pardoned”Minister of Justice Han Dong Hoon said, according to CNBC.
One of Lee’s first projects may be the finalization of a $ 17 billion chip plant that Samsung wants to build in Taylor, Texas, capitalizing on ample US funding available. for the domestic chip production.
Analysts also said they expect Samsung to move faster and more decisively on research, acquisition and broader strategies.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to start over”Lee said in a statement following his pardon. “I will work hard to fulfill my responsibility as an entrepreneur ”.
Obviously one will have to wait for a global market response to this Korean justice solution, which in most industrialized countries could literally be seen as a shameful action. It could also make South Korea lose credibility as a government.
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