Samsung's Jay Y. Lee Set Free in Unexpected Seoul Court Reversal
By Sam Kim
February 5, 2018, 1:18 AM EST Updated on February 5, 2018, 3:53 AM EST
- Suspended sentence fuels doubt over country’s chaebol reforms
- Lee was embroiled in national influence-peddling scandal
A South Korean appeals court let Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee walk free from prison after suspending his sentence for bribery, a stunning reversal that raises questions about the government’s ability to reform the nation’s most powerful corporations.
The heir to the country’s largest conglomerate had appealed his sentence, which the court reduced by half to two and a half years on Monday. He will be on probation for four years, the court said.
Jay Y. Lee leaves the Seoul Detention Center on Feb. 5.
Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg
Even Lee, 49, appeared stunned. He stood up and looked around with a blank stare after the ruling, and was blushing as he walked out of the courtroom. He had been detained for almost a year. The decision follows a familiar pattern however: over the years, Lee’s father, as well as other South Korean business executives, had been tried in court for corruption only to receive suspended sentences.
“We have a new president in office, but the ‘Republic of Samsung’ lives on,” said Kwon Young-june, a professor who researches corporate governance at Seoul’s Kyung Hee University. “It’s startling to see that the practice of letting chaebol chiefs get away with suspended sentences is continuing.”
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“It’s truly disappointing,” Park Yong-jin, a National Assembly member from Moon’s party, said in a statement. “We confirmed once again that Samsung is above the law and the court.”
continues at bloomberg.com |
