'Gwangbokjeol Pardon' Kim Tae-woo: "If Cho Kuk Is Guilty, I Am Innocent... I Will Return to Gangseo"

Former Seoul Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo, who exposed allegations of cover-up by the Blue House special inspection team during the Moon Jae-in administration, raised his voice saying he would "return to Gangseo" three months after his conviction was confirmed by the Supreme Court and he was pardoned.

On the 14th, Kim released a statement saying, "I was the first to expose the corruption of the Moon Jae-in regime, and only today, after 4 years and 8 months, have I fully restored my honor," adding, "If Cho Kuk is guilty, then Kim Tae-woo is innocent."

On the same day, the government granted a 'Liberation Day special pardon' effective on the 15th to 2,176 people, including former Kim, small and medium-sized business owners, petty merchants, general criminal offenders, businessmen, and politicians. Kim was prosecuted for leaking secrets he learned in the course of his official duties related to the Blue House Civil Affairs Office special inspection team in 2018, and in May of this year, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of one year in prison with a two-year probation.

Kim said, "'As a whistleblower, the political prosecution against me by the Moon Jae-in prosecution was a political repression to cover up the criminal acts of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and others," adding, "I was forced to leave the workplace where I had worked for over ten years simply because I informed the public of the government's wrongdoing. The ruthless Moon Jae-in regime treated me as a 'loach' that muddies the water, subjecting me to intimidation and ridicule."

Regarding the Supreme Court ruling against him, he criticized, "'The court under Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo branded a whistleblower as a criminal by charging me with leaking official secrets, a charge that makes no sense," adding, "It was politics, not a judgment, and politics covered up the public interest."

He also hinted at running in the upcoming by-election in October. He said, "The 570,000 residents of Gangseo District chose me as 'Gangseo District Mayor' while I was sentenced guilty in the first trial and was still undergoing trial," adding, "If my party and the people allow, I want to spend the remaining time meaningfully again in Gangseo."

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