Samsung Electronics’ Vice Chairman, Lee Jae-yong, was paroled on Friday, August 13, after serving 18 months of a 30-month prison term for corruption. The 53-year-old executive, who is Samsung’s de facto leader, walked out of the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, a city just south of Seoul, on Friday morning.
Lee Jae-yong — the 202nd richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a net worth of $11.4 billion — was serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with the corruption scandal that brought down ex-South Korean president Park Geun-hye.
But calls for his early release from both politicians and business leaders grew in recent months over what they claimed was a possible leadership vacuum at the South’s biggest conglomerate.
The justice ministry announced Monday, August 9, he had been paroled with over 800 others, citing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy. As he walked out of the Detention Centre, Lee, wearing a mask, told reporters: “I am very sorry for making people worried. I know there are concerns, criticism, worries and big expectations for me. I will do my best.”