Lee Jae Yong: Business leaders submit petition and plead for the government to free jailed Samsung heir

Lee Jae Yong, the Samsung heir, and de facto leader is spending time in jail after he was sentenced to a two and a half year jail term in January of this year. He was convicted in a case related to his bribery activities involving former South Korean president Park Geun Hye.

Business leaders calling for the Samsung chief’s freedom

But it seems that Lee Jae Yong has a chance to shorten his stay in prison as business leaders have started to call for his release. In fact, it was reported last week that business lobby groups have stepped up to ask the government to pardon the controversial Samsung heir.

"With our economy going through tough times and the competition for the global semiconductor market heating up, the pardon of Vice Chairman Lee is increasingly necessary," the group explained as to why they are asking for the officials to pardon Lee Jae Yong.

Based on the report, five major groups in the business arena have united for the call for Lee’s freedom. The parties that agreed to write a letter for leniency to be granted to the embattled Samsung heir are the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea, and the Korea Enterprises Federation.

Letter for pardon finalized and submitted to the Blue House

This week, the businessmen have finally submitted the petition for the detained Lee Jae Yong to be pardoned. It was said that the letter was sent to the Blue House under the lead of CJ Group’s head, Sohn Kyung Shik, on Monday, April 26.

As per The Korea Herald, amid the escalating issue of chip shortage, the heads of major businesses have come together to publicly declare their request for Lee Jae Yong’s immediate release. Likewise, the business groups are asking South Korea’s President Moon Jae In to “make a decision of reconciliation and tolerance” so that the Samsung VP could proceed to work on addressing the chip shortage at once.

“I suggested to the deputy prime minister that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae Yong be pardoned and released,” CJ Group’s Sohn told the press. “The pardon decision is not up to the deputy prime minister but the government will hopefully make the related discussions.”