The Accelerating 'Pardon Clock' for Lee Jae-yong... Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum Meets with Heads of Five Economic Organizations

Business Community Anticipates 'Gwangbokjeol Pardon'... 3rd Government-Business Meeting on the 4th

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] The "pardon clock" for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is speeding up. The justification and public sentiment are sufficient. This is why the business community is paying attention to President Moon Jae-in's remarks on the 2nd, stating, "The public also sympathizes a lot with (Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's pardon)." This is distinctly different from his statement at the press conference marking his 4th anniversary last month, where he said, "I will listen to public opinion and make a judgment." The business community expects that from a national economic perspective, the release of former Vice Chairman Lee will simultaneously bring the practical benefit of large-scale investment. Various opinion polls also show that support for the pardon has easily exceeded 60%.

On the 3rd, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum held a meeting at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul with the heads of five major economic organizations: Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation; Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association; Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business; and Kang Ho-gap, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises, to listen to current economic issues and difficulties. Attending from the government side were Yoon Chang-ryeol, Second Vice Minister of State Affairs; Lee Ok-won from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance; Park Jin-gyu from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Park Hwa-jin from the Ministry of Employment and Labor; and Kang Sung-chun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

This was the first official meeting between Prime Minister Kim, who took office last month, and the heads of economic organizations. At this meeting, the organization heads expressed the view that Vice Chairman Lee's role is absolutely necessary considering the semiconductor industry, which requires large-scale investment. These five organization heads have been focusing on persuading the government, including drafting a pardon petition for Vice Chairman Lee in April and delivering it to the Blue House, and they appealed for this again during their meeting with Prime Minister Kim. Although the meeting was originally arranged to listen to overall economic issues and difficulties, the pardon issue for Vice Chairman Lee emerged as the biggest topic and was mentioned again.

The business community is paying close attention to Prime Minister Kim's remarks and hopes that, considering the response to the economic recovery phase in the second half of the year, Vice Chairman Lee will be included in the August 15 special pardon at the earliest. Prime Minister Kim has so far refrained from commenting on Vice Chairman Lee's pardon, citing it as a "presidential prerogative," but at last month's parliamentary confirmation hearing, he expressed his intention, saying, "If I become prime minister, I will meet with the business community, organize the situation well, and convey it to President Moon Jae-in."

Contact between the business community and the government will continue for three consecutive days until the 4th. On the 4th, Lee Ho-seung, Chief of Policy at the Blue House, and Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Industry, will hold a private meeting with the presidents of the five major domestic groups?Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, and Lotte. This meeting is to discuss follow-up measures after the Korea-US summit, and attention is focused on whether a pardon petition for Vice Chairman Lee will be made at this meeting as well.

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