Jailed Samsung Chief Granted Release On Parole

Lee Jae-yong is currently serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with the corruption scandal.

The jailed de facto leader of the giant Samsung group will be released early on parole this week, South Korea's justice ministry said Monday, easing concerns over a possible leadership vacuum at the conglomerate. Lee Jae-yong -- the 188th richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a net worth of $12.4 billion -- is currently serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with the corruption scandal that brought down ex-South Korean president Park Geun-hye. But calls for his early release from both politicians and business leaders have grown in recent months over concerns about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the South Korean economy, the 12th-largest in the world. His freedom will ease concerns over decision-making at Samsung, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in the country.