Civil Society Groups: "The Release of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong Undermines Democracy and the Rule of Law"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] 130 civil society organizations have called for the suspension of discussions on the pardon of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Organizations such as the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and People's Solidarity held a press conference at People's Solidarity in Jongno-gu, Seoul, stating, "The release of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong undermines the common sense, democracy, and rule of law in this land that those who commit crimes must receive appropriate punishment regardless of status or wealth."

They continued, "Vice Chairman Lee's crimes involve soliciting and bribing Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil for illegal succession operations," adding, "He is currently on trial for numerous charges including accounting fraud, stock price manipulation, and mobilizing the National Pension Service, which is the people's retirement fund, and it has been less than six months since his re-incarceration."

Furthermore, they emphasized, "If Vice Chairman Lee is released, it would overturn the Blue House's previous commitments to restrict pardons for five major serious criminals, adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward serious economic crimes by conglomerates, remove serious anti-market criminals from the market, and limit the president's pardon authority."