The heir and de facto leader of the Samsung group received a presidential pardon on Friday August 12. Lee Jae-yong, convicted of bribery and embezzlement in January 2021, will be “reinstated” for “to help overcome South Korea’s economic crisis”, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said. The billionaire was conditionally released in August 2021, after serving 18 months in prison, just over half of his original sentence.
This pardon will allow him to fully return to work, lifting the employment ban imposed on him by the court for a period of five years after his prison sentence. The ministry hopes the businessman can “lead the country’s engine of growth by actively investing in technology and creating jobs”.
Lee Jae-yong was granted the pardon along with three other businessmen, including Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who received a two-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentence in a corruption case in 2018. This is the latest example of a South Korean tradition of leniency against big bosses convicted of corruption and other financial crimes.