Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is serving jail time for bribery, has qualified for parole and is expected to be released on Friday.  

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye on Monday announced the decision by the ministry’s deliberations committee reached during its review session earlier in the day. Lee was among a list of 810 people who qualified for parole ahead of Liberation Day, which falls on Sunday. 

The minister said, in arriving at the decision on the Samsung scion, the country's economic situation as well as the global economic environment were taken into account, as was public sentiment and his attitudes as an inmate. 

The 53-year-old has been serving a two and a half year sentence for a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye, who is also behind bars. Without parole, he was scheduled to be released in July of next year. 

The public had been split about the early release of the Samsung heir, with proponents citing his outsized role in the national economy while critics were against it over fairness issues. 

The nine-member minister committee was led by Vice Justice Minister Kang Sung-kook and included a number of ministry officials and five outside members including a judge, a lawyer and three professors.