South Korea's president will pardon Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong with a year left on his sentence for bribing former President Park Guen-Hye as part of the massive corruption scandal that toppled Park's government, the justice minister announced Friday.
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and two other top business leaders will be pardoned as well, extending South Korea's history of leniency toward convicted business tycoons and major white-collar crimes. They are among some 1,700 people President Yoon Suk Yeol will pardon Monday, a national holiday celebrating Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II.
The pardon of Lee, one year after he was released on parole, underscores Samsung's huge influence over a country that relies on its technology exports. He was convicted of bribing Park and her close confidante, who both were sentenced to lengthier prison terms, to win government support for a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that tightened Lee's control over the corporate empire.
Lotte's Shin received a suspended prison term in 2018 on similar charges of bribing Park, whom then-President Moon Jae-in pardoned in December. Other business leaders to be pardoned are Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill, and former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo.
Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said the pardons of the business tycoons were aimed at "overcoming the economic crisis through encouraging business activity." Yoon earlier told reporters that his pardons could help create "breathing room" for struggling domestic livelihoods.
Lee, 54, runs the Samsung group in his capacity as vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest makers of computer memory chips and smartphones. He had a year left on his 30-month sentence when he was freed on parole in August last year by Moon's government, which then defended its decision on unspecified concerns related to the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released through Samsung, Lee said he expresses his sincere gratitude for "receiving an opportunity to start anew."
