Seoul: Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong walked out of prison Friday a year early in a parole decision demonstrating the conglomerate's outsized influence in South Korea as well as continuing leniency for bosses who commit corporate corruption.
Wearing a gray suit and a mask, Lee stepped out of the gates at the prison near Seoul and bowed in apology over the anger he had caused over his case, which was related to the explosive corruption scandal that toppled South Korea's previous president in 2017.
Hundreds of demonstrators standing behind police lines simultaneously shouted slogans denouncing or welcoming his release.
(I) caused too much concern to our people. I am very sorry, said Lee, who had spent the past months in prison relaying his business decisions through visiting employees.
He said he was keeping close attention to the concerns, criticism and huge expectations about him and then walked into a black sedan without answering reporters' questions.
Lee, 53, is the third-generation heir of an immense business empire that runs everything from technology, construction, and financial services companies to hospitals, an amusement park and baseball and soccer clubs. His corporate crown jewel, Samsung Electronics, singlehandedly represents about 20% of South Korea's entire stock market value and one-fourth of its total exports.
Lee's parole marked an about-face for the government of President Moon Jae-in, who after winning the presidential by-election in 2017 pledged to curb the excesses of chaebol, or South Korea's family-owned conglomerates, and end their cozy ties with the government.
Business leaders and key members of Moon's government had endorsed Lee's early release in recent months, citing Samsung's vital role in South Korea's export-driven economy and the increasing challenges it faces in the global semiconductor market.
Freeing Lee became politically convenient for Moon after recent polls indicated that South Korea's public years removed from the angry protests that filled the streets with millions of demonstrators in 2016 and 2017 largely favored Lee's release.
With the next presidential election coming in March 2022, the ruling liberals are hoping to win votes among the millions of South Koreans who own Samsung shares, some experts say.
Samsung had no immediate comment to Lee's release. Lee served a total of 18 months of a 30-month sentence