Samsung frontman paroled after controversial pardon

Samsung’s de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, was released on parole today from the prison, where he was being held for corruption, thanks to a pardon from the government that divided South Korean society.

Lee walked through the exit of the Seoul Detention Center, located in the city of Uiwang (south of the South Korean capital) and where he had been detained since January.

A tangle of journalists awaited him as well as people chanting his name.

“I am so sorry for causing concern to Korean citizens,” Lee said. in front of the media microphones as soon as they leave the exit.

“I listened and paid attention to the concerns, criticisms and expectations around me. I will try to do my best, ”he concluded.

August 9 The South Korean government has decided to grant pardon to the 53-year-old businessman and de facto leader of the country’s largest business group, on the occasion of National Liberation Day on 15 August. date on which the authorities usually grant pardon to certain prisoners who have served 60% of their sentence.

Lee He was sentenced in January to two and a half years in prison for bribes he paid to the network created around former South Korean President Park Geun-hye and his confidant Choi Soon-sil., known under the name of “Rasputin”, in a resumption of the trial around this affair which shocked the country.

Lee had been sentenced to five years in prison initially in August 2017 for having paid these bribes aimed at obtaining favorable treatment from the authorities and for embezzlement, conceal assets abroad and commit perjury.

However, in February 2018, an appeals court reduced his sentence and allowed him to be released from prison, although His case took a new turn in August 2019, when a higher court decided to lay new charges and repeat the trial.

Between the time he spent in prison between 2017 and 2018 and the more than six months he spent behind bars this year, Lee had already served 60% of that two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

However, the decision was not without controversy, since part of South Korean society considers that the pardon violates the promise of the current South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, to fight corruption.

Workers’ organizations and various civil groups, including religious orders, They apologized to the businessman, pointing out the weight his figure has in a company that accounts for one-fifth of the Asian country’s gross domestic product (GDP). While other groups have shown their dissatisfaction with the idea.

(With information from EFE)

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