Ruling party lawmaker calls for pardon of Samsung leader

Rep. Lee Won-wook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a close aide to former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, has called for a presidential pardon for Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and de facto head of Samsung Group.

Rep. Lee’s claim is causing a stir as Cheong Wa Dae has reiterated that it is not considering a pardon for the Samsung heir, who is imprisoned for bribery. A senior presidential office official said Tuesday that Cheong Wa Dae has “the same answer as before at this point” on the issue.

“The economy is very unstable due to the COVID-19 situation and people are also demanding that Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong needs to be pardoned to overcome the country’s semiconductor crisis,” the three-term lawmaker said during a radio interview with local broadcaster BBS, Tuesday.

After Lee was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the Seoul High Court on Jan. 18 in a retrial of a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye, requests for Lee’s pardon have been made by various sectors from religious to political communities, as well as major business lobby groups.

According to a poll of 1,000 adults conducted by local pollster Data Research on April 26, 71.2 percent of the respondents said Lee should be pardoned, while 26.2 percent said they oppose the pardon.

In mid-April, Rep. Yang Hyangja, another DPK lawmaker and former board member of Samsung, also brought up the issue, citing the global hegemonic competition in the semiconductor sector.

“The country’s representative company, which went out to the global battlefield, is fighting without a leader who should be leading the combat,” she said.