Cheong Wa Dae rules out pardon for Samsung chief

President Moon Jae-in has maintained a prudent approach to issuing pardons, and no exception is expected for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is serving jail time on bribery charges.

“We never discussed the issue and have no plans to do so for now,” a Cheong Wa Dae official flatly told reporters Tuesday in response to a petition filed by the nation’s major business lobby groups seeking a pardon for Lee.

Former presidents often issued pardons for chaebol owners, citing their roles in boosting the economy or in talks for high-profile deals like hosting the Olympics.

But Moon has pledged not to abuse his clemency power especially for serious fraud cases like bribery, embezzlement and breach of trust. No major businessperson has been granted a special pardon by Moon.

The chatter about the pardon issue has resurfaced recently for the 52-year-old Samsung chief who was put behind bars in January for giving bribes worth 8.6 billion won ($7.7 million) to former President Park Geun-hye for political favors. The court sentenced Lee to 2 1/2 years in prison.

His supporters claim that Lee, if freed, could play a key role in resolving pending issues ranging from a limited COVID-19 vaccine supply to a global chip shortage.

Lee reportedly used his personal network with Shantanu Narayen, chairman of the US computer software company Adobe, who is an independent director of Pfizer, in brokering for the Korean authorities and the US drugmaker to reach a large-scale vaccine supply deal early this year.

In the petition, the business lobby groups also said: “Our semiconductor industry is facing new risk and a challenging situation, and if we see a delay in investment and business decisions because of a leader’s absence who needs to oversee the company’s management amid a fierce competition of the chip industry, the country may lose the No. 1 status in a day.”

They were pushing Moon as he is heading to Washington next month to hold a summit with US President Joe Biden, who has renewed his commitment to bolstering his own country’s chip industry, asking for more investments from foreign manufacturers.

But civic groups protested the claims, stressing that Samsung’s chip supremacy and Lee’s crimes are separate issues.

“The key issue here is his personal crimes should be separated from management. The charges against him are not related to Samsung Electronics or other Samsung affiliates, but they involved the owner family’s succession scheme and their personal benefits,” Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said in a statement.

Even though the president has not yet expressed his opinion on Lee’s case specifically, he has reiterated his principle that public consensus should be the top consideration in mulling a pardon.

“I can’t help thinking about public consensus on the issue. And it should be considered in a way to help promote national unity,” the president was quoted as saying last week when asked about his will to pardon two previous presidents, Park and Lee Myung-bak, both in jail for abuses of power and corruption charges.

Opinions remain divided about the pardons of the two former presidents. According to a recent poll by the Korea Social Opinion Institute, 52.2 percent of the 1,010 respondents opposed their pardons, saying it is too early to discuss the issue.

But in a separate poll by Wonji Korea Consulting, 69.4 percent of the 1,008 people responded in favor of the Samsung chief’s pardon, while 23.2 percent opposed the idea.

Given that the president has put emphasis on public consensus for pardons, Cheong Wa Dae is expected to continue gauging sentiment until Lee becomes a free man in July 2022.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)