South Korea’s Justice Ministry has said that Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong received a presidential pardon on Friday.
According to foreign media reports, South Korea’s Justice Ministry stated that billionaire Lee Jae-yong would be “reinstated” in order to aid in the nation’s recovery from its economic crisis.
Last year, the Samsung heir was found guilty of financial offences including embezzlement and bribery.
On Friday, The South Korean Justice Ministry announced that Lee Jae-yong was granted a presidential pardon.
The pardon is mostly symbolic because he was paroled in August 2021 after serving 18 months in jail.
The Justice Ministry said in a statement, “Due to the global economic crisis, the dynamism and vitality of the national economy has deteriorated, and the economic slump is feared to be prolonged.”
According to the South Korean Yonhap news agency, Lee, vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, committed to work hard for the country’s economy.
The total revenue of the Samsung Group is about equal to one fifth of the GDP of South Korea.
South Korea’s Justice Ministry said in the statement that Lee and others were pardoned so they could “lead the country’s continuous growth engine through active investment in technology and job creation.”
The Friday pardon removes a job limitation Lee had to work around while on parole, allowing him to completely resume his career.
The head of the Lotte Group Shin Dong-bin, the fifth-largest company in South Korea, also received pardon.
It was Shin’s trial back in 2016 that gripped the nation and then brought down the government of former president Park Geun-hye.
