The President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol pardoned the head of Samsung, Lee Jae-yeon, who was convicted of bribery.
This is reported by the BBC.
South Koreaʼs government explained the move as follows: the leader of the countryʼs largest company is needed back at the helm to lead the recovery of the economy after the pandemic.
In February 2017, the court arrested Lee, because in 2015 he transferred $38 million to a friend of former President Choi Soon-sil. The bribe was for the approval of the merger of several Samsung structures. In January 2021, Lee Jae-yeon was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, and in August of the same year he was released early.
In Korea, the economy is dominated by giant conglomerates — the 10 largest account for about 80% of GDP. They are family empires that provide a wide range of services. Among them are LG, Hyundai, Lotte and SK. But Samsung is the biggest and most powerful of them.
- Samsung Electronics was founded by Lee Jae-yeonʼs grandfather, and he himself has been the de facto head of it since 2014. On October 25, 2020, the chairman of the Samsung concern Lee Gong-hee died in Seoul at the age of 78. He had health problems after suffering a heart attack in 2014. This is Lee Jae-yeonʼs father.