ID :
91367
Tue, 11/24/2009 - 16:14
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https://oananews.org//node/91367
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(News Focus) Pardon sought for former Samsung chairman
By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's 2018 Winter Olympics bid committee is
waging a campaign to pardon former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, convicted
earlier this year for illegal bond deals.
The 67-year-old Lee, who had been with the International Olympic Committee since
1996, voluntarily gave up his rights and duties as an IOC member after he was
indicted on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust last year. The IOC
Executive Board also suspended Lee from the committee.
The PyeongChang Winter Olympics bid committee said last Thursday it has sent a
petition to the government seeking Lee's pardon.
A separate petition was submitted by the provincial assembly of Gangwon, where
the city of PyeongChang is located. The city has lost its previous Winter Games
bids to Vancouver, Canada, for 2010 and to Sochi, Russia, for 2014.
"Heading into our third challenge to host the Winter Olympics at PyeongChang, we
are in urgent need of help from Lee Kun-hee," said Cho Yang-ho, a co-chairman of
the PyeongChang bidding committee.
"Lee has a high reputation at the IOC and strong relationship with other
committee members," said Cho, who is also head of Hanjin Group, the
mother-company of the country's largest carrier Korean Air Lines Co.
According to the IOC Web site, the body's executive board "approved the
recommendation made ... by the IOC Ethics Commission, to take note of Mr. Kun-hee
Lee's decision to voluntarily give up the rights."
An article on the site, dated Aug. 3, 2008, said that Lee's "prerogatives and
functions deriving from his IOC membership" will remain ineffective "until the
legal proceedings against him are concluded."
The Seoul High Court convicted Lee in August this year of ordering Samsung SDS
Co., a Samsung Group affiliate, to sell bonds with warrants to his son and
daughters at sub-market prices in 1999 -- causing losses of some 22.7 billion won
(US$18.2 million). Lee was given a three-year prison term, suspended for five
years, and ordered to forfeit 110 billion won for breach of trust.
Lee has been remained reclusive since his indictment in April last year, after
which he stepped down as head of South Korea's largest business conglomerate,
which he chaired for 20 years.
It was a blow to Samsung Group, which has some 200,000 employees in 59
affiliates. While the South Korean tech giant has successfully emerged from the
global financial crisis, insiders say many continue to hope for the chairman's
return.
Top executives at Samsung Electronics Co., the group's crown jewel, were the
first to publicly argue the issue.
"We need (Lee's) decision-making in order to focus our strategy," Choi Gee Sung,
president of Samsung Electronics' digital media operations, said in early
September in Berlin, where he was visiting the IFA electronics fair.
Kwon Oh-hyun, head of the company's semiconductor business, made similar remarks
during an event on Sept. 22 in Taiwan.
"Not only for Samsung, but also for the future of South Korea's economy, I wish
there was a way to make use of former Chairman Lee's experience and wisdom," said
Kwon, adding that it was his personal opinion.
Business circles have not hesitated to show support for the nation's most
influential tycoon.
"I hope that former Chairman Lee will be pardoned before the end of year, not
only for the Olympics' sake, but also for the South Korean economy's sake," Sohn
Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said to
reporters on Friday.
"Former Chairman Lee must be given an opportunity to contribute to the country,"
Sohn said.
The chamber was holding discussions with other business lobby groups to seek
special government amnesties for convicted businessmen in time for Christmas, an
official at the chamber said, declining to give his name.
The Lee Myung-bak administration pardoned scores of white-collar convicts in a
sweeping special amnesty last year, saying the clemency will help invigorate the
nation's economy. The move drew fierce criticism that the president was
whitewashing corporate wrongdoing.
The amnesty -- the latest in a number throughout South Korea's recent history --
was given on Aug. 15, 2008.
It granted leniency to such prominent names as Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung
Mong-koo and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Hanwha Group Chairman Kim
Seung-youn, who was convicted of using his personal security guards to beat up
bar workers in a sensational revenge attack after his son was hurt in a scuffle,
was also pardoned.
Critics see the campaign for Lee's amnesty as seeking to gain a foothold for his
return to the Samsung management.
"If Lee gets the amnesty, it will only prove that the whole of South Korean
society is the puppet of a Big Brother called Samsung," the Solidarity for
Economic Reform, a civic group, said in a statement Monday.
"This is only part of the scenario ... to let Lee make his comeback to the
Samsung Group."
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's 2018 Winter Olympics bid committee is
waging a campaign to pardon former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, convicted
earlier this year for illegal bond deals.
The 67-year-old Lee, who had been with the International Olympic Committee since
1996, voluntarily gave up his rights and duties as an IOC member after he was
indicted on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust last year. The IOC
Executive Board also suspended Lee from the committee.
The PyeongChang Winter Olympics bid committee said last Thursday it has sent a
petition to the government seeking Lee's pardon.
A separate petition was submitted by the provincial assembly of Gangwon, where
the city of PyeongChang is located. The city has lost its previous Winter Games
bids to Vancouver, Canada, for 2010 and to Sochi, Russia, for 2014.
"Heading into our third challenge to host the Winter Olympics at PyeongChang, we
are in urgent need of help from Lee Kun-hee," said Cho Yang-ho, a co-chairman of
the PyeongChang bidding committee.
"Lee has a high reputation at the IOC and strong relationship with other
committee members," said Cho, who is also head of Hanjin Group, the
mother-company of the country's largest carrier Korean Air Lines Co.
According to the IOC Web site, the body's executive board "approved the
recommendation made ... by the IOC Ethics Commission, to take note of Mr. Kun-hee
Lee's decision to voluntarily give up the rights."
An article on the site, dated Aug. 3, 2008, said that Lee's "prerogatives and
functions deriving from his IOC membership" will remain ineffective "until the
legal proceedings against him are concluded."
The Seoul High Court convicted Lee in August this year of ordering Samsung SDS
Co., a Samsung Group affiliate, to sell bonds with warrants to his son and
daughters at sub-market prices in 1999 -- causing losses of some 22.7 billion won
(US$18.2 million). Lee was given a three-year prison term, suspended for five
years, and ordered to forfeit 110 billion won for breach of trust.
Lee has been remained reclusive since his indictment in April last year, after
which he stepped down as head of South Korea's largest business conglomerate,
which he chaired for 20 years.
It was a blow to Samsung Group, which has some 200,000 employees in 59
affiliates. While the South Korean tech giant has successfully emerged from the
global financial crisis, insiders say many continue to hope for the chairman's
return.
Top executives at Samsung Electronics Co., the group's crown jewel, were the
first to publicly argue the issue.
"We need (Lee's) decision-making in order to focus our strategy," Choi Gee Sung,
president of Samsung Electronics' digital media operations, said in early
September in Berlin, where he was visiting the IFA electronics fair.
Kwon Oh-hyun, head of the company's semiconductor business, made similar remarks
during an event on Sept. 22 in Taiwan.
"Not only for Samsung, but also for the future of South Korea's economy, I wish
there was a way to make use of former Chairman Lee's experience and wisdom," said
Kwon, adding that it was his personal opinion.
Business circles have not hesitated to show support for the nation's most
influential tycoon.
"I hope that former Chairman Lee will be pardoned before the end of year, not
only for the Olympics' sake, but also for the South Korean economy's sake," Sohn
Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said to
reporters on Friday.
"Former Chairman Lee must be given an opportunity to contribute to the country,"
Sohn said.
The chamber was holding discussions with other business lobby groups to seek
special government amnesties for convicted businessmen in time for Christmas, an
official at the chamber said, declining to give his name.
The Lee Myung-bak administration pardoned scores of white-collar convicts in a
sweeping special amnesty last year, saying the clemency will help invigorate the
nation's economy. The move drew fierce criticism that the president was
whitewashing corporate wrongdoing.
The amnesty -- the latest in a number throughout South Korea's recent history --
was given on Aug. 15, 2008.
It granted leniency to such prominent names as Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung
Mong-koo and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Hanwha Group Chairman Kim
Seung-youn, who was convicted of using his personal security guards to beat up
bar workers in a sensational revenge attack after his son was hurt in a scuffle,
was also pardoned.
Critics see the campaign for Lee's amnesty as seeking to gain a foothold for his
return to the Samsung management.
"If Lee gets the amnesty, it will only prove that the whole of South Korean
society is the puppet of a Big Brother called Samsung," the Solidarity for
Economic Reform, a civic group, said in a statement Monday.
"This is only part of the scenario ... to let Lee make his comeback to the
Samsung Group."
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
