New twist in the Korean soap opera. Lee Jae-yong, heir and de facto boss of the Samsung empire, is due out of jail on Friday. He will be granted early parole, Korea's justice ministry said. Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to thirty months in prison, as part of a vast corruption scandal that led to the downfall of former Korean President Park Geun-hye. The 53-year-old heir will have finally served eighteen. His good behavior, but also the pressures of the economic world will allow him to regain his freedom sooner than expected. The signing of an agreement in the spring between Samsung Biologics and Moderna for the production of vaccines against Covid-19 would have weighed in favor of Lee Jae-yong.One of the branches of the huge Korean conglomerate is expected to start producing vaccines at the end of August.
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Furthermore, Samsung is one of the world leaders in the semiconductor market.
While tensions in this market are increasing, the release of the “boss” from prison was eagerly awaited.
Even if, for the moment, no details have been provided by the Korean prosecution on the conditions for a return to business for Lee Jae-yong.
Theoretically, an economic conviction is accompanied by a ban on exercising responsibilities in a company for five years.
The decision would also be linked to the weight of Samsung in the Korean economy. The group weighs nearly 20% of the national GDP. Last year, the group's net profit was twice that of the other nine largest Korean companies! No other group weighs so heavily in its national economy.
