'Gwangbokjeol Special Pardon = Businesspeople'... Yoon Grants Mass Pardons to Businesspeople for 'Livelihood' (Comprehensive)

Message of 'Livelihood Management' in the Second Year of Administration... Large-Scale Pardons for Businessmen Including Lee Joong-geun and Park Chan-gu
Excluding Those Involved in State Affairs Manipulation Such as Ahn Jong-beom and Kim Jong Considering Public Sentiment and Trial Status
Former Seoul Gangseo-gu Mayor Kim Tae-woo Recognized for 'Whistleblowing' Included in Pardons

President Yoon Suk-yeol carried out his third special pardon since taking office on the 14th. While a large number of business leaders, whose pardon requests had been voiced by the business community, were included, all figures related to the Park Geun-hye administration's state affairs manipulation scandal, who were once considered possible candidates for pardon, were excluded. The presidential office refrained from interpreting the pardon, stating that "pardon is a procedure stipulated by constitutional law and a presidential decision," but expressed expectations that it would be an important opportunity for livelihood and economic recovery.

On the morning of the day, the government held an extraordinary cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to review and approve the Liberation Day special pardon list set by President Yoon, who holds the power of pardon. The pardon targets 2,176 people, including small and medium-sized business owners, small merchants, special consideration prisoners, businesspeople, politicians, and corporate executives. The government explained that the pardon targets included ▲general criminal offenders (2,127 people) ▲special consideration prisoners (5 people) ▲businesspeople (12 people) ▲politicians (7 people), actively including small and medium-sized business owners, small merchants, and corporate executives to revitalize the livelihood economy.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is announcing the Liberation Day special pardon on the 14th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

"Economic Diplomacy, Regulatory Reform"... Yoon's 'Economy-Centered' Policy Emphasizes 'Businesspeople' in Liberation Day Special Pardon

The pardon list included businesspeople who had been punished for corruption and other offenses. Representative figures include Lee Joong-geun, founder of Booyoung Group, who was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for embezzlement and breach of trust involving hundreds of billions of won, and Park Chan-gu, honorary chairman of Kumho Petrochemical Group, who was sentenced to 3 years in prison with a 5-year probation for breach of trust exceeding 13 billion won.

Former Taekwang Group chairman Lee Ho-jin, who was sentenced to 3 years in prison for embezzlement and corporate tax evasion and was released after serving his term, and Jongkundang chairman Lee Jang-han, who was sentenced to prison for abusing his chauffeur, were also included in the special pardon.

President Yoon also pardoned many businesspeople in last year's Liberation Day special pardon. This included Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, and Jang Se-ju, chairman of Dongkuk Steel, solidifying the Yoon administration's pardon policy as effectively equating 'Liberation Day special pardon = businesspeople.'

Both the political circles and the business community expected this year's special pardon to also emphasize 'businesspeople.' This is because, entering the second year of his administration, President Yoon has been strongly pursuing a state governance policy focused on the 'economy' and has repeatedly demonstrated efforts to achieve the core national agenda of 'regulatory reform.' After last year's Liberation Day special pardon, the presidential office interpreted that "ultimately, it seems to place more weight on economic revitalization, which President Yoon has consistently emphasized." President Yoon also stated when carrying out the pardon, "We aim to stabilize livelihoods and provide opportunities and hope for the underprivileged in our society, including small and medium-sized enterprises and small merchants," adding, "The targets and scope of the pardon were carefully decided after broadly gathering opinions from various sectors to overcome the difficult economy."

In political circles, it is seen as a message of 'economic revitalization' amid difficult livelihood and economic conditions, with expectations to recover approval ratings through this. Despite continuous 'economic diplomacy,' the approval rating stuck in the mid-30% range is inevitably a significant variable for next year's general election.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Exclusion of Those Involved in State Affairs Manipulation... Former District Mayor Kim Tae-woo, Granted Pardon for 'Public Interest Whistleblower Responsibility Reduction'

Former Blue House Policy Coordination Secretary Ahn Jong-beom and former Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong, who were involved in the Park Geun-hye administration's state affairs manipulation scandal, were excluded from this pardon. Considering public sentiment, 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 term in September 2021. Kim was sentenced to 2 years in prison in 2020 for pressuring Samsung Group and others along with Choi Seo-won to make donations to the Korea Winter Sports Talent Center.

Former Samsung Electronics Future Strategy Office chief Choi Ji-sung and former Future Strategy Office deputy chief Jang Choong-ki were affected by ongoing trials related to the illegal merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. For the same reason, former National Pension Service Fund Management Headquarters chief Hong Wan-sun was also excluded from the list. Hong was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison last year for instructing internal investment committee members of the National Pension Service Fund Management Headquarters to support the merger, causing significant losses to the National Pension Service, and was paroled in January this year.

The opposition also speculated on the possibility of pardoning former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's wife, former Dongyang University professor Jung Kyung-shim, but she was excluded again. Jung was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Supreme Court for admission fraud involving her children. Her release is scheduled for June 2024.

Former Seoul Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo, who exposed corruption allegations of the Blue House special inspection team during the Moon Jae-in administration and lost his mayoral position after being sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation in May this year, was included in the pardon list. This was regarded as recognizing Kim's exposure as a form of whistleblowing. The 'Ministry of Environment blacklist case' and the 'Yoo Jae-soo former Busan Deputy Mayor inspection cover-up case' that Kim exposed were each ruled guilty by the Supreme Court and lower courts, respectively.

However, among the 35 allegations Kim exposed, 15 were reported by then Blue House Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok in December 2018 for leaking official secrets. During the trial, Kim applied to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission for 'public interest whistleblower responsibility reduction,' but the commission, led by former Heon-hee appointed during the Moon administration, rejected it. After the Yoon administration took office, the Ministry of Justice's pardon review committee effectively recognized Kim as a public interest whistleblower.

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