Kwon Seong-dong "Pardon for Park and MB, the sooner the better... Public support should be prioritized"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party who served as the impeachment prosecutor for former President Park Geun-hye, said on the 15th, "The earlier the pardon for a former president, the better."

On the morning of the same day, through MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Rep. Kwon said, "I respect the judiciary's ruling," but added, "From the perspective of national dignity, it is not desirable for the punishment of a former president to continue and for the controversy over political retaliation to persist."

He evaluated the confirmed 20-year prison sentence as "feeling excessive." Rep. Kwon said, "Although it is true that economic benefits were given to a woman named Choi Sun-won in connection with the state affairs manipulation case as a third party, considering that there was no personal gain, I think it is excessive. However, since various charges were revealed through the investigation and trials were conducted accordingly, we must all respect the judicial system of the Republic of Korea."

Rep. Kwon argued that "the investigation of the two former presidents cannot exclude the aspect of political retaliation in some respects," and insisted that a pardon is better the sooner it happens from the perspective of politics of integration and politics toward the future. Regarding the criticism that opposition to the pardon is higher, he said, "In all past pardon opinion polls, there has never been a time when the majority supported it," and added, "We should value the 30-40% of people who think it is necessary for national unity."

In response to a question about whether it might rather cause conflict, he emphasized, "It is natural for the public's legal sentiment to oppose a pardon," and said, "Because that is the nature of it, if a pardon is granted, public opinion will change again."

Regarding the criticism that pardoning would violate President Moon Jae-in's pledge not to pardon five major crimes including bribery solicitation, breach of trust, and embezzlement, Rep. Kwon said, "That is a matter for the president to decide," and added, "I say this in the context of the president not exercising the privileges granted to him arbitrarily, but do all pledges get kept? If it is necessary and the situation and conditions change, that degree of flexibility is fully understandable."

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