'Gwangbokjeol Special Pardon' Excludes Choi Ji-sung, Jang Chung-gi, Ahn Jong-beom... Includes Lee Joong-geun, Park Chan-gu, etc. (Comprehensive)

Choi Ji-sung, former head of Samsung Electronics' Future Strategy Office, and Jang Chung-gi, 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.

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.

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

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), but were granted parole in March last year. The Pardon Review Committee reportedly excluded them from the pardon list considering that they are currently on trial for allegations related to the illegal merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.

Former Blue House Policy Coordination Secretary Ahn Jong-beom and former 2nd Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong, who were also involved in the state affairs manipulation case, did not pass the review. Ahn was sentenced to 4 years in prison, a fine of 60 million won, and a confiscation of 19.9 million won by the Supreme Court in June 2020 for forcing large corporations to make huge donations to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations, and was released after serving his full term in September 2021.

Former Vice Minister Kim was sentenced to 2 years in prison in 2020 for pressuring Samsung Group and others to make sponsorship payments to the Korea Winter Sports Talent Center along with Choi Seo-won.

Chairman Lee Joong-geun of Booyoung Group Photo by Yonhap News

Among business figures, Lee Joong-geun, founder of Booyoung Group, Park Chan-gu, honorary chairman of Kumho Petrochemical Group, and Lee Ho-jin, former chairman of Taekwang Group, passed the review. Lee Jang-han, chairman of Chong Kun Dang, who was sentenced to prison for the 'chauffeur power abuse' controversy, was also included.

Kim Tae-woo, former mayor of Seoul's Gangseo District, who exposed corruption allegations of the Blue House special inspection team during the Moon Jae-in administration and was sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation in May, losing his mayoral position, was pardoned. This appears to reflect the ruling party's voice that Kim, as a whistleblower exposing the previous administration's corruption, should be included in the pardon list.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon plans 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. The final list of recipients will be confirmed after approval by the Cabinet meeting.

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