Economic Figures Including Lee Joong-geun, Shin Young-ja, and Park Chan-gu Receive 'Liberation Day Pardon'... "Opportunity to Revive the Economy" (Comprehensive)

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 Liberation Day. Kim Tae-woo, former mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul, who exposed allegations of cover-up by the Blue House 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 preferential pressure, 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 Seoul Government Complex and announced 2,176 individuals as recipients of the ‘August 15 Special Pardons and Reinstatements.’ For 811,978 individuals subject to administrative sanctions, special remission measures were applied, 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 an opportunity to participate in the urgent 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 favor of Park. The Supreme Court ruled that "the probation period should be interpreted as part of 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 a four-year probation and a fine of approximately 1.197 billion KRW.

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 millions 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 convicted of embezzlement, breach of trust, and corporate tax evasion, sentenced to three years in prison, and was released in October 2021 after serving his full term. He has been barred from employment for five years from the date his sentence ended and has not been able to participate in management. Chairman Lee Jang-han was indicted for habitual mistreatment of chauffeurs and was sentenced in November 2019 to six months in prison with a two-year probation. Former Chairman Kang Jung-seok of Dong-A Socio Holdings, who was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for embezzling large sums of company funds and providing rebates to hospitals and clinics, was released in September 2020 after serving his sentence and was reinstated.

Kim Tae-woo, Former Mayor of Gangseo-gu, Seoul / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In the political sphere, former Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo’s sentence was nullified and he was reinstated. Kim, who exposed corruption allegations involving the Blue House 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. The ruling party argued that since he was a whistleblower revealing the previous administration’s corruption, he should be pardoned. The government accepted this demand and nullified Kim’s sentence and reinstated him. He is now eligible to run in the upcoming Gangseo District mayoral by-election scheduled for October.

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 performer, enabling it to receive government support funds of 6.67 billion KRW, among other charges. In 2018, he was sentenced to five years and two months in prison, fined 50 million KRW, and ordered to pay a fine of 88.4 million KRW. He was released on parole on Liberation Day in August 2021.

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