The 4th Special Amnesty by Moon Administration: 3,024 General Criminal Offenders... "Focus on Livelihood"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 29th, the government granted special pardons to 3,024 individuals, including small and medium-sized business owners, small merchants, livelihood-type criminal offenders, special consideration (underprivileged) prisoners, and those involved in social conflict cases.

This is the fourth special pardon since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration, coming one year after the special pardon last December for general criminal offenders and conscientious objectors to military service. The government announced that the Cabinet reviewed and approved the pardon proposal submitted by the Ministry of Justice on this day.

The special pardon recipients include ▲ 2,920 general criminal offenders granted special pardons, sentence reductions, or reinstatements ▲ 52 small and medium-sized business owners and small merchants granted special pardons or sentence reductions ▲ 25 special consideration prisoners granted special pardons or sentence reductions ▲ 26 individuals related to social conflict cases granted special pardons or reinstatements ▲ 1 individual under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense granted special pardon or reinstatement, totaling 3,024 people.

The government stated that the special pardons were carried out focusing on livelihood and economic recovery and consideration for the underprivileged in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The recipients included small and medium-sized business owners and small merchants who were punished for economic crimes but had mitigating circumstances, as well as prisoners in difficult conditions such as those with infants or couples imprisoned together.

Special pardons were also granted for healing social conflicts and restoring local communities. Twenty-six individuals involved in social conflict cases, such as the Navy base incident in Gangjeong Village, Jeju, and the THAAD deployment incident in Seongju, whose trials were finalized after the 2020 New Year's special pardon, benefited from this.

Special administrative relief for driver's license penalties was also implemented. A total of 1,119,608 people benefited from point deletions and the withdrawal of license suspensions or cancellations.

Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, stated, "The recipients were selected solely in a way that helps the livelihood and economic activities of the people and consideration for the underprivileged," and added, "We hope this special pardon will be an opportunity for the people to unite further and overcome difficulties together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.