Park Su-hyun, Senior Secretary at the Blue House: "Park Geun-hye Pardon, President Moon Made a Lonely Decision Alone"

Cheongwadae Public Communication Secretary's Interview on TBS 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory'... "The Essence of Pardon is National Unity and the Future"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] Park Soo-hyun, Chief of Public Communication at the Blue House, stated in an interview with TBS's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on the 27th regarding the pardon decision for former President Park Geun-hye, "I understand that President (Moon Jae-in) made a solitary and agonizing decision, a lonely decision."

Park said, "It is true that the Blue House staff did not know the overall details of the (former President Park's pardon decision)," adding this.

Park explained, "Yesterday, I saw Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye being interviewed by the media, saying that on the 17th, he conveyed the President's words to the head of the prosecution bureau, so the President's decision was made before the 17th, but it is not appropriate to disclose the exact timing," he said.

The view of the Blue House from Namsan, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding the background of this pardon, Park emphasized, "The pardon content for former President Park Geun-hye has been highlighted by many media outlets mainly for health reasons. That is also an important factor, as already briefed, but the more essential point is national unity and the future."

Regarding consultations with the ruling party surrounding former President Park's pardon, Park said, "Even the Blue House staff did not know, and I myself started to become aware when many media outlets began calling early in the morning asking what was going on, regardless of the truth," adding, "I understand that Representative Song Young-gil and candidate Lee Jae-myung also said in the media that they themselves did not know."

Regarding the speculation that this pardon would affect the presidential election, Park questioned, "No matter how much I think about it, I cannot understand why the opposition is being divided. How can we conclude who politically benefits or loses from this?"

Park said, "I have repeatedly explained that political gains or losses and political considerations were not taken into account at all, and I said that the background of the special pardon is precisely unity and the future," adding, "It is not desirable to evaluate the President's decision based on political gains or losses."

Meanwhile, regarding the background of former President Lee Myung-bak being excluded from the pardon decision, Park explained, "Although he is older, his detention period as of the end of the year is about 780 days, and the detention period was discontinuous," adding, "Minister Park Beom-gye once expressed that 'the nature of the crimes is different,' and Blue House Political Secretary Lee Cheol-hee also said that 'the two cases are essentially different in nature.'"

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