Samsung Electronic Co. vice chairman Lee Jay-yong publicly apologized on Thursday for a controversy involving his son’s admission to the Younghoon International Middle School.

“I am sorry for causing public concern involving my son’s school admission,” said Lee, heir-apparent to Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group. “I think it is right for my son to leave the school.

Lee’s 13-year-old son did not show up at Younghoon on Wednesday.

Disputes arose in January over his admission to the elite institution under a special program for single-parent households intended for underprivileged families. Lee was divorced in 2009.

Pressure mounted as the school underwent a month-long audit started in March due to the snowballing admission scandal involving faculty members and falsified test records.

Prosecution investigators raided the school on Tuesday and a member of the Education Committee at the Seoul Metropolitan Council claimed on Wednesday that Lee’s son was among three students implicated in the admissions scandal.

(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)