President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea pardoned Jay Y. Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, on Friday, citing the necessity for the businessman to help the country out of a "national economic crisis."
The pardon is primarily symbolic because Lee is already free on parole after serving 18 months in prison for bribes connected to his time as the head of the largest memory-chip and smartphone manufacturer in the world.
However, analysts noted that it should indicate that Lee will be able to do business more freely and might signal some significant movements from Samsung.
"We deliberately picked economic leaders who lead the national growth engine through aggressive technological investment and employment creation to be pardoned with the urgent necessity to overcome the national economic crisis," Justice Minister Han Dong Hoon said. a briefing.
According to the Yonhap news agency, Lee, a descendant of the founding family of Samsung, praised the decision and vowed to work hard for the country's economy. Shin Dong-bin, the head of Lotte Group, who had been given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence on bribery allegations, was also pardoned by President Yoon, a pro-business figure.
Lotte said in a statement, "We sincerely thank the government and people for their decision to grant amnesty, and Chairman Shin Dong-bin and staff members at Lotte will help to overcome the complex global crisis.
REOPEN FOR BUSINESS
When President Yoon and US President Joe Biden visited Samsung's Pyeongtaek chip manufacturing plants in May, Lee was already back in the spotlight before earning the presidential pardon.
participate in management, his legal risks still persist due to an ongoing trial where he faces charges of fraud and stock manipulation.
In June, he travelled to Europe to meet with ASML Holding NV CEO Peter Wennink to talk on the adoption of important high-end chip machinery. Analysts have long anticipated choices about significant M&A projects and investments after Lee was restored. According to company sources, Lee alone should be able to make such decisions.
Lee was theoretically no longer subject to the job ban, according to Park Ju-gun, CEO of the research company Leaders Index.
"Additionally, initiatives that Samsung was pursuing, including significant M&A or investments, may have been connected to the pardon. Going forward, there is a good probability that announcements will be made."
Samsung chose Taylor, Texas in November of last year to be the location of a new $17 billion chip factory. Although specialists claim Lee can now speak more freely
