"Lee Jae-yong's Special Pardon Is a Matter of National Destiny"

Kim Tae-hoon, Chairman of Hanbyun, "Right Time to Use Presidential Pardon Power"... Religious Groups and Local Government Heads Also Urge Leniency

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is attending the retrial sentencing hearing of the state affairs manipulation case at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] "How can we expect a rosy future while keeping the leader of our semiconductor industry locked up in a detention center?"

Kim Tae-hoon, chairman of the Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea (Hanbyun), said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 20th that the pardon of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, which is being discussed across various sectors, is "a matter on which the fate of the nation depends." He stated, "As the global semiconductor war intensifies, the world economy is so foggy that we cannot see the immediate future," and added, "It is the right time to exercise the president's special pardon authority." He emphasized, "The president's special pardon authority is a legitimate power guaranteed by law," and "If the conditions are met, there is no reason to refuse to use this authority."

Although Hanbyun is a conservative-leaning organization, voices supporting Lee Jae-yong's pardon are emerging not only from the business and religious communities but also from the legal sector. A lawyer familiar with business circles said, "We cannot ignore the influence Vice Chairman Lee holds in our economy," and "If Lee's pardon is essential for national governance and aligns with the people's interests, there is no need to hesitate."

The Council of Chief Priests, a gathering of the head monks of 25 district temples of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, sent a petition on the 12th to President Moon Jae-in, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, and then Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, stating, "Everyone is a flawed being, and Vice Chairman Lee is no different," and requested, "We hope you will help him have the opportunity to repent for his past mistakes and turn his vows into actions rather than words." It is unusual for the head monks representing the Jogye Order temples to appeal for leniency for a chaebol executive facing legal judgment for corruption crimes.

As for local government leaders, Oh Gyu-seok, mayor of Busan's Gijang County, sent two appeals to President Moon Jae-in in February and on the 15th, requesting Lee's pardon. In his letter, Oh said, "South Korea is currently fighting not only the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine war but also an economic war," and added, "To revive the collapsed and devastated local economy, aggressive local investments by domestic conglomerates including Samsung are urgently needed. I earnestly appeal to the president to pardon Vice Chairman Lee and let him join the fight against COVID and the economic war."

In the legal community, it is believed that although Vice Chairman Lee meets the requirements for parole, actual execution is difficult. Parole candidates are usually considered after serving one-third of their sentence, but in practice, parole has mainly been granted to inmates who have served about 70-80% or two-thirds of their sentence. Vice Chairman Lee was imprisoned in Seoul Detention Center for 353 days before his 2 years and 6 months sentence was finalized on January 18 in the retrial of the 'state affairs manipulation' case, and he has been serving his sentence for three months since the final ruling.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Lee is scheduled to face his first formal trial on the 22nd at the Seoul Central District Court on additional charges related to the 'Samsung C&T merger and bio accounting fraud' allegations. According to the defendant's attendance obligation, Lee is expected to appear in court on that day.