Samsung Chief Jay Y. Lee Gets Parole, To Be Freed August 13

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee, in jail after convictions for bribery, embezzlement, and other charges, has qualified for parole and is expected to leave prison this Friday, August 13, 2021, South Korea's justice ministry said, Joyce Lee, Heekyong Yang, and Sangmi Cha reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Then COO of Samsung Electronics, Jay Y. Lee (center) shakes hands with former IOC chair, Jacques Rogge, as Chang-Soo Choi, then President and CEO of Samsung Electronics America (left) looks on.

"The decision to grant Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee parole was the result of a comprehensive review of various factors such as public sentiment and good behavior during detention," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Convicted of bribing a friend of former President Park Geun-hye, Lee, 53, has served 18 months of a revised 30-month sentence. He initially served one year of a five-year sentence from August 2017 which was later suspended. That court decision was then overturned and while the sentence was shortened, he was sent back to jail in January this year.

Support for his parole, both political and public and from the wider business community, had grown amid anxiety that key strategic decisions are not being made at the South Korean tech giant.

Although the day-to-day running of the world's biggest memory chipmaker and smartphone manufacturer has not been affected by his absence, company sources say decisions on major investment and M&A projects should only be made by Lee.

In particular, a decision on the location of a $17 billion US plant to produce advanced logic chips awaits his return at a time when there is a global chip shortage and rivals like TSMC and Intel Corp. are making large investments. The Federation of Korean Industries, a big business lobby, said in a statement that it welcomed the decision to grant Lee parole.

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