12 Businesspeople Including Lee Jung-geun and Park Chan-gu Pardoned... 2,176 Granted 'Gwangbokjeol Special Amnesty'

Corporate leaders including 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, are granted special pardons on the occasion of Liberation Day. Kim Tae-woo, former mayor of Seoul's Gangseo District, who exposed allegations of cover-up by the Blue House’s special inspection team during the Moon Jae-in administration, and Kang Man-soo, former Minister of Strategy and Finance who was sentenced to prison for exercising undue influence for preferential treatment, were also pardoned and reinstated.

Former Chairman Lee Joong-geun of Booyoung Group / Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 14th, the government held a briefing at the Government Seoul Office and announced 2,176 individuals as recipients of the ‘8.15 Special Pardon and Reinstatement.’ For 811,978 people subject to administrative sanctions, special remission measures were taken, and 821 model prisoners were granted parole.

This is the third pardon since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The government explained the background, stating, "We pardoned major economic figures to give them the opportunity to participate in the top priority task of revitalizing the economy," and "Furthermore, we pardoned politicians and former high-ranking public officials to resolve political and social conflicts."

With 12 major economic figures, whose pardon requests were strong in the business community, being pardoned, some corporate leaders are now able to return to the forefront of management.

Honorary Chairman Park and Shin Young-ja, former director of the Lotte Welfare Foundation, had their sentences nullified and were reinstated. Honorary Chairman Park was indicted on charges of breach of trust involving more than 13 billion KRW and was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison with a five-year probation. He was appointed CEO of Kumho Petrochemical in March 2019 during his probation period, but the Ministry of Justice did not approve his employment application. Park filed a lawsuit in June 2020 to cancel this decision but lost in the first trial. The second trial ruled in Park’s favor. The Supreme Court ruled that "the probation period should be interpreted as including the employment restriction period" and remanded the case. In the retrial, Park withdrew his appeal, confirming the plaintiff’s loss. Former Director Shin was indicted in a family management corruption case and was sentenced in October 2019 to three years in prison with four years probation and a fine of approximately 1.197 billion KRW.

Park Chan-gu, Chairman of Kumho Petrochemical, Photo by Asia Economy DB

Shin Young-ja, Chairperson of Lotte Scholarship Foundation / Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

Founder Lee Joong-geun, former Chairman Lee Ho-jin, and Chairman Lee Jang-han of Chong Kun Dang were reinstated. Founder Lee was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in August 2020 for embezzlement and breach of trust involving hundreds of billions of KRW. In October of the same year, he stepped down from his positions as CEO and inside director of the holding company and six affiliates. He was paroled ahead of Liberation Day in 2021. Former Chairman Lee was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement, breach of trust, and corporate tax evasion, and was released in October 2021 after serving his sentence. He has been barred from employment for five years from the date his sentence ended and has been unable to participate in management. Chairman Lee Jang-han was sentenced to prison over a controversy involving 'driver abuse.'

In the political sphere, former Seoul Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo’s sentence was nullified and he was reinstated. Kim, who exposed corruption allegations involving the Blue House’s special inspection team during the Moon Jae-in administration, lost his mayoral position after a sentence of one year in prison with two years probation was finalized in May. Former Minister of Strategy and Finance Kang Man-soo was also reinstated. Kang was indicted for selecting a bio company operated by an acquaintance as a national project executor, enabling it to receive government support funds of 6.67 billion KRW, and was sentenced in 2018 to five years and two months in prison, a fine of 50 million KRW, and a confiscation of 88.4 million KRW. He was released on parole on Liberation Day in August 2021.

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