By Kim Hyun-bin

Five business lobby groups are calling on the Moon Jae-in administration to grant special pardons for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong

The groups are arguing for such measures saying that Korea Inc. needs such business leaders in order to fully exert its potential amid an increasingly uncertain global economic outlook. The groups said Monday that they sent the joint request to the government.

"We earnestly ask to unfold the politics of healing and integration through the restoration of amnesty for those who deeply reflect on their past mistakes and for the desperate need for social integration," the group said in a letter to Cheong Wa Dae.

The business community has started petitioning for an amnesty and the reinstatement of some businessmen ahead of Buddha's birthday ― a national holiday on May 8 ― as the last special amnesty of the Moon Jae-in government is being discussed.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin were included on the list of people for the amnesty petition.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin

Five economic groups, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) and the Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea, submitted the petition titled, "A plaint for a special amnesty in the name of economic development and national unity" to Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Justice on Monday.

The five economic organizations pushed for the petition in order to overcome current uncertainties including COVID-19, the U.S.-China trade war and the Ukraine crisis. The group added that the names in the petition are competent entrepreneurs and are necessary to secure future competitiveness.

The KCCI says that the target of this petition for amnesty is aimed at businessmen who have already completed or have served most of their sentences and are on parole as well as those who have been sentenced to probation.

"I hope that our society will be able to heal confrontations and conflicts and achieve a higher level of national unity through the special amnesty and reinstatement measures," KCCI Vice-Chairman Woo Tae-hee said.