New Year Special Pardon Review Begins, Park and Lee Likely to Be Excluded

Primarily Livelihood Offenders... Park Beom-gye "Will Be of Considerable Scale"
Includes Minimum Wage Law, THAAD Protests, etc.
"Inclusion Is the President's Exclusive Authority"
Legal Community Analyzes "Politicians Excluded"
Lee Jae-yong Likely to Be Excluded from Special Pardon List

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice held a pardon review committee meeting from 9:30 a.m. on the 20th to discuss the pardon candidates and criteria for the New Year's special pardon.

The committee held an introductory meeting and appointment ceremony among the pardon review members before immediately starting the review. The review will also be held at 2:30 p.m. on the 21st. The committee consists of nine members, including Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice (chairman). Once the committee selects the pardon candidates, Minister Park submits the list to President Moon Jae-in, who then approves it, and after passing the Cabinet meeting resolution, the pardon candidates are finalized.

On the morning of the meeting, Minister Park said while arriving at the office, "This pardon will be of considerable scale," and added, "The criteria, principles, and purpose of the pardon have already been established." Regarding the special pardon for former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, he said, "Pardoning is the president's exclusive authority," and refrained from commenting, stating, "It is difficult to disclose the contents of the pardon, and no information can be announced until the final announcement."

The special pardon to be carried out this time is expected to focus mainly on livelihood offenders, model prisoners, and assembly and demonstration offenders. Last month, the Ministry of Justice sent official letters to frontline prosecutors' offices and correctional institutions requesting lists of offenders meeting these criteria. The letters reportedly mentioned specific cases eligible for special pardon, such as protests against the minimum wage law amendment and protests opposing the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The main theme of this special pardon is said to be targeting "livelihood offenders."

Accordingly, it is widely expected in the legal community that the two former presidents, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, will be excluded from the special pardon candidates. Additionally, since the special pardon is taking place three months before the presidential election, it is analyzed that politicians who could cause significant political repercussions will be excluded. For the same reason, the possibility of a special pardon for former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook also appears low. However, as both former presidents are elderly with worsening chronic illnesses and voices urging their pardon are growing, scenarios suggest that all three, including former Prime Minister Han, could be pardoned, or only one or two of them might be pardoned.

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who has attracted attention from the business community, is also expected to be excluded from this special pardon. This is due to the current administration's passive stance on special pardons for businesspeople. President Moon also stated at the time of his inauguration that he would restrict the exercise of pardon rights for five major serious corruption crimes: bribery, solicitation of bribes, acceptance of bribes, breach of trust, and embezzlement.

If the New Year's special pardon is carried out, it will be the fifth special pardon under the current administration. During the first special pardon on December 29, 2017, 6,444 people, including those involved in the Yongsan tragedy and livelihood offenders, were released. The 100th anniversary special pardon on March 1, 2019, included 4,378 people such as those involved in the mad cow disease candlelight protests and general livelihood offenders. The third special pardon on December 30, 2019, included election offenders such as former Gangwon Governor Lee Kwang-jae and former Seoul Education Superintendent Kwak No-hyun, totaling 5,174 people. On December 29 last year, 3,024 people, including 52 small and medium-sized business owners and small merchants, were pardoned.

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