[단독]Lee Jae-yong only visits’family’ for the time being, even when quarantine is lifted

[이데일리 배진솔 신중섭 기자] Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, imprisoned in Seoul detention center, has been able to interview the general public after four weeks of quarantine, but it is not expected that Samsung Electronics executives will receive interviews this month except for his family. It is known that Samsung executives will focus on Samsung’s compliance management by strengthening communication with the Samsung Compliance Monitoring Committee for the time being.

(Photo = Reporter Lee Young-hoon, E-Daily)

According to an official from the Seoul Detention Center, as of the morning of the 16th, only family members can apply for an interview with the public to Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Due to the Corona 19 situation, only those who have visited in person and registered an acquaintance in advance can make an appointment for an interview through the Internet or phone, because only family members have already registered. The family that has completed acquaintance registration is presumed to be the mother of Lee Jae-yong, former director of Leeum Museum of Art, Hong Ra-hee, two younger sisters, Lee Bu-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, Lee Seo-hyun, chairman of Samsung Welfare Foundation, and the son and daughter of vice chairman Lee.

An official at the correctional headquarters said, “Up to now, only family members have visited and registered acquaintances.” Vice-Chairman Lee Jae-yong said that he would not receive general interviews other than his family for the time being.

Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong moved to a general prison on the 15th after quarantine for four weeks according to the Corona 19 response guidelines. On the day Vice-Chairman Lee’s quarantine was lifted, the step of distancing the Seoul metropolitan area was also eased to two stages, making it possible to interview the general public in addition to interviews with lawyers. Like general prisoners, Vice-Chairman Lee is allowed to visit from the 16th by receiving an application for an interview in advance from the 15th, but for the time being, only family visits are possible. It is known that Samsung executives and others are also going through the process of acquaintance registration.

Some predicted that executives such as Hyun-Ho Jeong, President of Samsung Electronics Business Support Task Force (TF), In-yong Lee, President of External Cooperation, and Ki-nam Kim, Vice Chairman of Device Solutions (DS), will be the first to visit. Earlier, when Vice Chairman Lee was first imprisoned in a detention center in 2017, former Samsung Future Strategy Officer Choi Ji-sung visited 5 hours after the arrest warrant was issued, and on the second day, Foreign Cooperation President Lee In-yong visited Lee. . It looks quite different from then.

It is presumed that the reason that Vice Chairman Lee does not receive interviews with the president of Samsung other than his family is because he was already delivering messages to inside and outside through the lawyers even during the quarantine period, and due to the limited time due to the Corona 19 situation. Vice-Chairman Lee communicated through interviews with lawyers in limited locations even during the four-week quarantine period. At the time, conversations were made using microphones in a space enclosed by glass partitions, but now face-to-face interviews are now possible in the counseling room, making it much easier.

In addition, Vice-Chairman Lee, who is classified as a’undecided prisoner’ in the Corona 2 stage situation, can only interview the public for 10 minutes once a week. Although he will not receive a dense report through his attorney, he seems to have decided that there is still no need to interview the Samsung president this month as he is receiving reports on the current issues. An official from the business community said, “We were delivering messages to the outside through a lawyer before,” and said, “Even if you meet with the president, it will be difficult to make a major decision through a visit for about 10 minutes.”

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Samsung Compliance Committee announced that it would provide a communication channel to strengthen the compliance monitoring function of the project support TF (task force) through a regular meeting. The committee decided to come up with a concrete plan with affiliates to prevent recurrence after the court decision was finalized against Lee and Samsung executives. To this end, it was decided to establish a communication window with the project support TF as soon as possible.

Earlier, Vice Chairman Lee emphasized the importance of the Compliance Committee through his attorney as his first prison message. Vice-Chairman Lee said, “I will continue to support the activities of the Compliance Committee,” and said, “I ask the chairperson and members to continue to fulfill their natural roles in the future.”