Amnesty for ex-Samsung chief?

Korea`s sports and corporate leaders are calling on the government to grant a presidential pardon to Lee Kun-hee, the former chairman of Samsung Group who received a suspended jail term for breach of trust in August.

Leaders of sports organizations last week suggested that President Lee Myung-bak include Lee in the presidential amnesty to be granted around Christmas. They said that presidential leniency is necessary in part to promote the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics of the Korean city of PyeongChang, Gangwon Province.

Lee, a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1996, the Olympic-governing body, voluntarily relinquished his IOC membership in July last year, citing the need to resolve legal disputes surrounding him and Samsung.

Lee was handed a three-year prison term, which was suspended for five years, on conviction of illegal bond trading. He was also fined 110 billion won ($95 million). The 66-year-old tycoon quit as chairman of Samsung Group, Korea`s largest family-controlled conglomerate, in April last year.



Now that the final court sentence has been made, an increasing number of people are calling on the government to grant Lee a presidential pardon.

On Nov. 17, Kim Jin-sun, governor of Gangwon Province, called for a presidential amnesty for Lee, saying that PyeongChang needs Lee`s assistance at the IOC and other international organizations. PyeongChang makes its third bid to host the Winter Olympics after it lost to Canada`s Vancouver and Russia`s Sochi in its two previous attempts to host the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games. The Korean city is expected to compete with Annecy of France and Munich of Germany for the right to host the 2018 Winter Games.



On Nov. 19, Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group who jointly heads the PyeongChang bidding committee, said in a news conference that the committee suggested to the government that it grant a presidential pardon for Lee.

"I think his reinstatement will greatly help Pyeongchang expand its support base (in the IOC)," Cho said.

He said Lee`s resumption of Olympic activity is "desperately needed" ahead of a meeting of IOC members in Vancouver, Canada, next February which will be the last meeting before the IOC decides the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics in July 2011.

On Friday, Sohn Kyung-sik, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, joined the appeal for a presidential pardon for Lee.

"We hope that Lee will receive amnesty within this year, not only for the hosting of the Winter Olympics but also for the national economy," Sohn said.

Some observers said the growing talk of a presidential pardon for Lee may be linked with his and Samsung`s hope that the former chairman come back to the conglomerate`s leadership.

In Korea, it is not rare for tycoons convicted of financial or personal wrongdoings to get presidential pardons, which often generate public criticism.

"We are not in a position to comment on the issue," a Samsung spokesperson said.

Some top executives of Samsung Electronics recently voiced the need for the return of Lee, saying that he is credited for elevating the conglomerate into a global electronics giant.

(hjjin@heraldm.com)





By Jin Hyun-joo