'Gwangbokjeol Special Pardon' Excludes Choi Ji-sung and Jang Chung-gi... Includes Kim Tae-woo

Choi Ji-sung, former head of Samsung Electronics' Future Strategy Office, and Jang Choong-ki, former deputy head of the Future Strategy Office, who were convicted and sentenced to prison during the Park Geun-hye administration in 2016 for their involvement in the state affairs manipulation scandal, were excluded from this year's 'Liberation Day Special Pardon' list.

Choi Ji-sung, Former Head of Samsung Future Strategy Office / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to political and legal circles, the Pardon Review Committee held a meeting from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the 9th at the Ministry of Justice Gwacheon Government Complex and made this decision.

They were each sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by the Supreme Court in 2021 for bribing former President Park and Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), and were paroled in March last year. The Pardon Review Committee reportedly excluded them from the pardon list considering that they are currently on trial over allegations of illegal merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.

Kim Tae-woo, former mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul, who exposed corruption allegations within the Blue House special inspection team during the Moon Jae-in administration and was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation confirmed in May, losing his mayoral position, was pardoned. It appears that the ruling party's voices advocating for his inclusion as a whistleblower who revealed the previous administration's corruption were reflected in the decision.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon is scheduled to report the list of those granted pardons and restorations decided on this day to President Yoon Suk-yeol, who holds the pardon authority, soon. Afterward, the final list of recipients will be confirmed following the Cabinet meeting resolution.

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