Seoul: Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee left a South Korean jail a free man on Monday after a panel of judges suspended his sentence, a surprise decision that sent shockwaves through the country's political and business establishments.

Coming just days before South Koreans gather to host the Winter Olympics, the ruling reignited an intense public debate over widespread corruption in a case that ousted President Park Geun-hye from office last year and has ensnared leading members of the family-run "chaebol".

Seoul High Court sentenced Lee to two and a half years in jail on charges including bribery and embezzlement - reducing the original term by half - but suspended the sentence for four years, meaning that he is unlikely to serve any more time in jail.

Emerging from a Seoul detention centre where he had briefly returned for his belongings after the ruling, Lee stood in the frigid February air and apologised for "not showing my best side". "The past year has been a really valuable time of looking back on myself," Lee said. Reuters