Samsung heir apologizes over controversy involving son's school admission
Lee Jae-yong, heir apparent to South Korea's leading conglomerate Samsung Group, on Thursday made a public apology for stirring controversy involving his son's admission to an international school here.
Lee's son was granted admission to Seoul's Younghoon International Middle School early this year under a special scheme for students with unusual family circumstances, including single-parent families.
But controversy ignited over whether the son of a vice chairman of Samsung Electronics is really "socially underprivileged" as his father is seen as the heir apparent to the world's largest smartphone maker. Lee was divorced in 2009.
"I am sorry to cause controversy involving my son's school admission," Lee said in a statement. "I thought it is right for my son to leave the school," he said.
Lee's son dropped out of the school and is reportedly in the process of transferring to another school.
The controversy intensified as the school was embroiled in an admission fraud scandal, in which more than a dozen faculty members and teachers are suspected of tampering with application documents.
After a month-long special audit of the school, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said on Wednesday that faculty members at Younghoon, including its vice principal and the head of the admission department, falsified admission test records by applicants for the academic year 2013 to grant enrollment to certain unqualified students.
It is not known whether Lee's son was unqualified in terms of his test score.
Later Thursday, prosecutors in Seoul said they have filed for an arrest warrant for the head of administration at Younghoon for allegedly taking bribes from parents in exchange for helping their children gain enrollment in the school.
Last week, prosecutors questioned one parent who allegedly paid the official, identified by the surname Lim. One prosecution official said Lee Jae-yong isn't among the parents who are being accused of having bribed Lim.