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Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The recent push from the business and academic communities for a pardon of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is currently imprisoned, is interpreted as stemming from a sense of urgency that South Korea could fall behind in the global power struggle among countries such as the U.S., China, and Europe over key sectors of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including the semiconductor industry, mobile communications, and biotechnology. It is a critical moment for Samsung, a core company leading the nation's next-generation industries, to make decisive moves for national interests, but major decisions such as investments are being delayed due to the absence of its leader.

During the 2015 'MERS Shock' as well,
Choi Tae-won, Lee Jae-hyun, and Shin Dong-bin were pardoned and released,
then expanded investments to lead 'economic revival'

According to industry sources on the 20th, the business and academic sectors emphasize the need to pay attention to how major companies expanded investments with the goal of 'economic revival' following the 2015 MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak. This coincided with the period when imprisoned business leaders such as Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group; Lee Jae-hyun, Chairman of CJ Group; and Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group, were pardoned and released.

These leaders immediately embarked on active investments upon release, citing employment and securing future growth engines as reasons for national economic recovery. A representative example is SK's declaration to invest 46 trillion won by 2024 in building domestic semiconductor factories. This included the state-of-the-art semiconductor plant M14 established by SK Hynix in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, in 2015, and the plan to build three production facilities domestically, with M15 in Cheongju completed in 2018 and M16 in Icheon finished in February this year, completing the plan three years ahead of schedule. SK Hynix also took the lead in the government's effort to create a semiconductor ecosystem by developing a 120 trillion won 'Semiconductor Cluster (industrial complex)' in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Lotte Group declared in 2018 that it would invest 50 trillion won across all domestic and overseas business sectors over five years and hire 70,000 new employees, and has been fulfilling this commitment. CJ Group accelerated all-around investments after Chairman Lee Jae-hyun returned to management in 2017, with notable achievements especially in the cultural industry, which is gaining attention as K-content. The film "Parasite," which swept four awards at last year's Academy Awards, was also a result supported by CJ's investments.

An industry insider said, "Due to COVID-19, the industrial ecosystem is rapidly changing, and concerns about economic downturns such as worsening employment and rising unemployment rates are high," adding, "If the government and companies unite to focus on economic recovery triggered by the pardon of business leaders, a synergistic effect can be expected." Additionally, the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee contributed to the national aspiration by supporting the bid for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member after his special pardon in 2009. Samsung is also reviewing ways to fulfill Chairman Lee's pledge to donate personal assets worth about 1 trillion won during the 2008 'Samsung Special Prosecutor' investigation.

From Semiconductors to 6G and Bio... Threatened Korean Industries
"Leading company Samsung must boost competitiveness through large-scale investments"

The recent recommendation by major domestic economic organizations to the government for a pardon of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is also due to a sense of crisis facing Korea's key industries such as semiconductors. While major semiconductor countries like the U.S., Europe, and Taiwan are competitively announcing investment plans, South Korea, led by Samsung, has yet to finalize large-scale support measures.

Furthermore, the U.S. and Japan, which lagged behind South Korea in the 5th generation (5G) mobile communications competition, have decided to strengthen alliances to take the lead in the 6G field. There are also concerns that domestic competitiveness is falling behind in the K-bio industry, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Previously, Vice Chairman Lee designated 5G, bio, electric vehicle components, and artificial intelligence (AI) as the four future growth businesses in 2018, supporting the government by mobilizing global networks in various areas such as the world's first commercialization of 5G and vaccine supply. Based on this role, a series of public petitions argue that "locking up the head of a core company in a 'time-critical economic war' situation is a huge loss for our economy."

Professor Hong Ki-yong of the Department of Business Administration at Incheon National University emphasized, "In a situation where super-gap is the key issue, only the head of the company can grasp global corporate trends and strategies and make timely decisions," adding, "Considering the urgent national economic situation and public opinion, a decision is needed to allow Vice Chairman Lee to return to management activities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.