As announced by the Justice minister on Friday, President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea has formally given Lee Hae-yong, heir to Samsung, a presidential pardon. This comes a year after he was released on parole after being convicted of bribing former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The heir to the Samsung kingdom was convicted as part of a large-scale corruption scandal that deposed Park.

Shin Dong-bin, the chairman of the Lotte Group, and two other prominent corporate figures will also receive pardons, continuing a tradition in South Korea of leniency toward business tycoons and substantial white-collar offenses.

The above-mentioned are among some 1,700 others granted Presidential pardons to become effective on Monday, a national holiday honoring Korea's independence from Japanese colonial authority at the end of World War II. 

According to Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, the pardons of the business moguls sought to help in “overcoming the economic crisis through encouraging business activity.”

The South Korean President had also made a similar statement earlier when he told reporters that pardoning the tycoons could offer "breathing room" for citizens struggling economically.

Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, was released on parole by former President Moon Jae-in under given concerns pertaining to the economy as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In opposition to the decisions of the current and former President, a civic group coalition, including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, released a statement condemning Yoon's decision to grant Lee, as well as other white-collar and business tycoon convicts, a Presidential Pardon.

The group claims that such actions make chaebol, the business conglomerates dominating the country's economy, more comfortable in committing criminal acts knowing they would be granted pardons - as has become a tradition in South Korea.

“President Yoon Suk-yeol’s sell-out (to business tycoons) sends a signal to chaebol chiefs that they are free to commit all the crimes they want,” the group's statement read.

As for the people of South Korea, recent polls showed that, now years removed from the irate demonstrations that forced Park out of office in late 2016 and 2017, people were largely in favor of Lee's pardon. This comes to show the extent of the influence that Samsung has over South Korea.

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