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| Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong arrives at Seoul High Court, Jan. 18, 2021, for a final hearing in his trial on charges of giving bribes to President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth transfer of management control from his father. Yonhap |
More than six out of 10 South Koreans support the idea of pardoning Lee Jae-yong, the jailed de facto leader of Samsung Group, a poll showed Saturday.
According to the joint survey conducted on 1,003 people age 18 or over nationwide from Monday through Wednesday, 64 percent of respondents said they support granting Lee a pardon.
Only 27 percent opposed the idea, while the remaining 9 percent said they were undecided.
Those who support giving clemency to Lee outnumbered those who objected in all age and regional groups, according to the poll.
Among supporters of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, however, the support rate of 47 percent only slightly outweighed the objection rate of 44 percent.
With support of 92 percent, sympathizers of the main opposition People Power Party overwhelmingly opted for a pardon.
The survey jointly conducted by four Seoul-based pollsters ― Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research International and Hankook Research ― has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
The results came amid growing calls from business and religious leaders as well as politicians to pardon the jailed tycoon.
The Samsung Electronics vice chairman was imprisoned in January over a high-profile corruption scandal that led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hee. He was sentenced to 2 and a 1/2 years in prison in an appeal hearing at the Seoul High Court for bribing Park and her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth father-to-son transfer of managerial power at the conglomerate.
Given the prison time he has already served in the course of the judicial process, Lee will be a free man in July 2022, unless he is granted a pardon or commutation. He did not appeal the high court ruling.
During a press conference marking the fourth anniversary of his inauguration Monday, President Moon Jae-in said he would make a decision on a pardon after listening to public opinion. (Yonhap)
