Samsung scion Lee walks free as South Korea court suspends jail term

SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean appeals court on Monday suspended a jail sentence handed down to Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, setting him free after a year’s detention amid a corruption scandal that brought down the former president.

Seoul High Court jailed Lee for two and a half years, reducing the original term by half, and suspended the sentence for charges including bribery and embezzlement for four years, meaning he does not have to serve time as long as he behaves.

Lee, 49, heir to one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, had been detained since last February.

Emerging from Seoul Detention Centre, Lee said his time in jail had been useful.

“Again, I feel sorry to everyone for not showing my best side. And it has been a really precious time for a year reflecting on myself,” Lee told reporters.

He added he needed to visit his ailing father, Samsung Group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, who suffered a heart attack in 2014.

“It’s a positive thing that the owner is returning,” said Greg Roh, a stock analyst at HMC Investment & Securities. “…it could be good that the owner returns to set standards in such a rapidly changing time.”

Shares in flagship Samsung Electronics, of which Lee is vice chairman, reversed earlier losses and closed up 0.5 percent compared to a 1.3 percent fall in the wider market.

Samsung heir Lee says spent year in jail on self-reflection

“Samsung Electronics needs to recover the lost global network, global investments and M&A drive which was Lee’s main role. Although Lee is not expected to make waves right away, this is something that needs to be done,” said Park Ju-gun, head of research firm CEO Score.

“Samsung also could become active in supporting public works such as the current administration’s drive to increase jobs, and work to strengthen the power of the board of directors,” Park added.

Although Lee was set free, the stigma may stick, some lawyers say, even as South Korea ties to put the scandal behind it days before it hosts the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

“Public opinion will get riled up and people will keep thinking there was some quid pro quo between Samsung’s Lee and the president,” Lee Jung-jae, a lawyer at law firm Jung, said.