Moon leaves door open for pardon of imprisoned Samsung chief
President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong during a meeting with business leader in this undated photo. Korea Times file
By Yi Whan-woo
President Moon Jae-in left the door open, Monday, to the possibility of granting a pardon to imprisoned Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong amid growing calls to release him to cope with the global battle over semiconductor leadership.
The President said he will sufficiently take into account people's opinions before making a decision, adding that a pardon “is not something a president can decide easily according to his own thoughts.”
“The global competition for semiconductors is intensifying and it is true that we need to enhance competiveness in the chip industry,” Moon told reporters during a Q&A session at Cheong Wa Dae following his special address to mark his four years in office.
He noted Cheong Wa Dae has been receiving petitions from not only the business community but also from others.
He, however, stressed that “fairness, precedents and public sentiment must be considered at the same time.”
The world's top semiconductor maker, Samsung Electronics faces daunting tasks of dealing with a global chip shortage by expanding its investments, while avoiding being caught in the crossfire in the U.S.-China battle for tech supremacy.
The related projects require highly developed business acumen and huge sums of money.
However, the global tech giant has been left to handle them without its chief who was sentenced to two and a half years in jail over a high-profile bribery case involving impeached President Park Geun-hye. Park is also serving a jail term.
The petition to pardon Lee was accordingly brought up to ruling and opposition lawmakers, Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, Prime Minister-nominee Kim Boo-kyum as well as Cheong Wa Dae officials before Moon, Monday.
The petitioners were mainly business leaders in the beginning but later included religious leaders and civic activists.
But whether to pardon Lee has been a politically complicated issue, as it is related to whether to also pardon Park and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak who is behind bars as well on a separate corruption charge.
The justice minister and Cheong Wa Dae officials both said freeing Lee is not in the government's plans, while the prime minster-nominee said he will discuss the matter with the President if he is officially appointed.
People watch President Moon Jae-in delivering a special speech on television at a community center in Mapo District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Taking this into account, Moon said, “There are many people who want a pardon for two former presidents on one hand and many others who are against it on the other hand.”
He added, “For the nation, having two former presidents being imprisoned is very unfortunate, especially considering they are elderly and in bad health condition. But we still need to make a decision based on justice, fairness and public consensus.”
Meanwhile, industry sources said the President appears to be becoming more aware of the serious nature of the shortage in global chip supply chains and a need for government-backed measures.
Two days after U.S. President Biden's virtual meeting with global business leaders, Moon on April 15 summoned chief executives of eight local firms including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor and pledged strong and wide-ranging support for the semiconductor sector.
Moon then called chips “a core national strategic industry,” asking for “one team” efforts from the corporate world and the government to ride out the “tough wave of changes and to seize opportunities.”
“Leaving the door open for pardoning Lee would have been unthinkable in the early years of Moon's term,” a source said.
With Moon's scheduled summit with Biden in the U.S., May 21, Samsung Electronics is in the final assessment stage for the construction of its second U.S. semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas. The factory is estimated to cost 20 trillion won ($17.9 billion).
Another Samsung affiliate, Samsung C&T, is considering investing $673 million in the U.S. to build solar power plants with a combined production capacity of about 700 megawatts in Milam County, Texas.
The sources say consultations are underway between the Korean government and business groups, adding that related announcements may be made shortly before or after the upcoming summit.