Ahn Cheol-soo on Monday expressed regret over signing a petition to reduce SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won’s sentence for corruption in 2003.

On Monday it was revealed that Ahn, a potential presidential candidate, had signed the petition as a member of the V Society a group for social gatherings of CEOs. Chey, who was the society’s chairman at the time, had been indicted on a number of charges including accounting fraud. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term, but was released on probation in September 2003.

The ruling was heavily criticized for being an example of the authorities’ customary leniency toward chiefs of conglomerates, a practice Ahn attacked in his recent book.

“When chairman Chey, who was the chairman (of V Society) was imprisoned in 2003, a petition calling for reducing his sentence was suggested and all the members decided to take part,” Ahn said in a statement.

“(I) felt uncomfortable signing the petition 10 years ago, and have since thought about whether it was the proper thing to do. It is true that Korea’s conglomerates have been serving a role for the country’s economy but they have not fulfilled the responsibilities befitting to the role. I believe that anyone who breaks the law should be punished fairly.”

In his record-setting book “Thoughts of Ahn Cheol-soo,” the Seoul National University professor stated that a corporation and its owner should be regarded separately, and that “if the owner abuses his authority or if their families seek personal gains, it becomes a crime.”

Ahn also said in the book that it was now time for “the law to stop siding with the haves and regain its definition that (the law) is applied fairly to everyone.”

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)