청 "Cases of Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak are different... No consideration related to elections at all"

The view of Cheongwadae from Namsan, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The Blue House explained that the reason former President Lee Myung-bak was excluded from the pardon decision, unlike former President Park Geun-hye, was because "the cases were different." Regarding the timing of the pardon, they responded that "there was absolutely no consideration related to the election."

A Blue House official answered reporters' questions on the morning of the 24th, saying, "If there had been any consideration of the election, wouldn't there have been a better timing than now?" thereby dismissing any connection to the presidential election.

This came in response to criticism, mainly from the opposition, that pardoning former President Park 75 days before the presidential election was a move made with election considerations.

The official, on the premise of their own opinion, said, "What is clear is that there was absolutely no consideration related to the election," adding, "Such a thing could not have been considered at all."

Regarding the exclusion of former President Lee Myung-bak from the pardon list, the official replied, "Isn't the case of former President Park Geun-hye and former President Lee Myung-bak different?" and "The two cases are quite different." However, when asked "what exactly is different," they said, "I have nothing to say. Please judge as you imagine."

About the Blue House's sudden change in stance, having previously stated that there was "no consideration" of a pardon until recently, the official said, "The accurate expression is that we did not know what kind of flow was progressing."

When asked about the timing of President Moon's decision on the pardon, the official said, "The pardon right for former presidents has been requested or suggested multiple times by religious groups, civic organizations, and unofficially by political circles. Also, former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon made remarks earlier this year, so this matter itself is not new," adding, "There must have been anguish until the very last moment."

Regarding whether there was any consultation with Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate, or others about this decision, the official stated, "There was no consultation with the party, any specific person, or any politician regarding this decision."

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