Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was reinstated with a special amnesty for the 8/15 Liberation Day and is now able to resume normal business activities, said, "I will work hard for the national economy."
Vice Chairman Lee said this to reporters asking about their impressions of the lottery in front of the Court Complex in Seocho-gu, Seoul at 12:00 noon today (12th), then added “Thank you” and bowed his head.
Other questions followed, such as how to proceed with the remaining trial and whether there was anything he wanted to convey to the public and the company's employees, but Vice Chairman Lee remained silent.
Today, three days before Liberation Day, the government announced the beneficiaries of special amnesty, commutation, and lottery, saying, "In order to overcome the economic crisis through economic revitalization, we are reinstating Vice Chairman Lee, who has recently ended his sentence."
This special amnesty, which will be implemented for the first time since the inauguration of the Yun Seok-yeol government, is on the 15th.
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who was on probation, received a special pardon and a lottery ticket, while Dongkuk Steel Chairman Jang Se-joo and former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-su also received amnesty.
As a result, Vice Chairman Lee was able to resume normal business activities as the five-year employment restrictions due to the 'Gookjeong Nongdan Incident' were lifted.
Vice Chairman Lee was previously charged with bribing former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Seo-won (former Choi Soon-sil), but was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in January last year.
After that, he was released on parole and his sentence ended, but there were constant criticisms in the business world that there were restrictions on normal business activities due to employment restrictions applied.
Vice Chairman Lee was indicted in September 2020 on charges of unfairly merging Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries and ordering accounting fraud for this purpose (violation of the Capital Market Act, etc.) separately from the case of reinstatement, and the first trial is ongoing for nearly two years.
Today, Vice Chairman Lee attended the trial over the suspicion of unfair merger, and made his position as he left the courtroom during the recess.
Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries merged in 2015 under the condition of exchanging one share of Samsung C&T for 0.35 shares of Cheil Industries through the board of directors meeting in 2015.
During the merger process, the prosecution sent Vice Chairman Lee to trial, arguing that the Samsung Group, led by the Future Strategy Office, intentionally raised the stock price of Cheil Industries and spread false information to lower the stock price of Samsung C&T.
On the other hand, Vice Chairman Lee's side is arguing that the merger was part of a rational management decision at the time, and that the business performance improved and the credit rating improved after the merger.
(Photo = Yonhap News)