Park Beom-gye "Lee Jae-yong's parole, inappropriate for Minister of Justice to mention"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Regarding the discussion of the parole of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong within the ruling party, Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye said, "It is not appropriate for me to comment."

On the morning of the 21st, Minister Park, while arriving at the Ministry of Justice Government Gwacheon Office, told reporters, "The Minister of Justice has the authority and position to talk about parole policy," and added, "Whether a specific individual is granted parole is a matter of procedure and system."

On the same day, Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "According to the Ministry of Justice guidelines, by August, after serving 60% of the sentence, (Vice Chairman Lee) could be eligible for parole," and added, "I believe they are considering the demands of the semiconductor industry and public sentiment."

In response, some have analyzed that the ruling party intends to resolve the issue through the parole system, where the Minister of Justice makes the final decision after a review by the parole board, rather than through a pardon, which carries a greater political burden regarding Vice Chairman Lee.

Meanwhile, regarding Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki's announcement that cases of 'inflating real estate transaction prices' have been detected, Minister Park emphasized, "There is great public outrage. We must investigate strictly."

He continued, "The prosecution is also closely reviewing investigation records from the past five years," and said, "I believe they are looking not only at speculative acts using insider information but also at price collusion." He also added, "If there is an opportunity later, I will talk about institutional reform measures to prevent real estate crimes."

Regarding the Ministry of Justice's inspection related to the leak of the indictment by Seoul High Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon, Minister Park said, "I have not received any special reports. I think the inspection will require quite some time."

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