Yoon to Grant Special Pardons on Liberation Day Next Week... Focus on Livelihood Offenders, Minimize Politicians

Focus on Low-Income Instructors and Small Business Owners
Attention on Political Figures Kim Kyung-soo and Cho Yoon-sun's Pardon Status
Decision Next Week... Presidential Office "No Decision Made"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the 30th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol will carry out a special pardon on the upcoming August 15th Liberation Day. This pardon is expected to focus mainly on livelihood-related offenders such as ordinary citizens and small business owners. Although the restoration of rights for Kim Kyung-soo, former governor of Gyeongnam and a close aide of former President Moon Jae-in, has been mentioned, the possibility is considered low.

According to ruling party sources on the 6th, President Yoon plans to hold a Cabinet meeting to review and decide on the pardon and restoration of rights for those selected by the Ministry of Justice’s Pardon Review Committee on August 8th for the Liberation Day special pardon. The Presidential Office is reportedly gathering opinions from various sectors regarding this matter.

Since taking office, President Yoon has exercised his pardon authority four times. On Liberation Day 2022, he pardoned 1,693 people including Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics. At the beginning of last year, he pardoned 1,373 people including former President Lee Myung-bak and former Governor Kim Kyung-soo. In August of the same year, he granted pardons to 2,176 people as a Liberation Day special pardon. This year’s Lunar New Year pardon included former Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin and former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon.

The emphasis of this Liberation Day special pardon is expected to be on 'people’s livelihood.' As President Yoon is focusing on the recovery of the economy and the livelihood of self-employed and small business owners, the plan is to pardon a large number of livelihood-related offenders to reaffirm his commitment to economic revitalization.

Inside and outside the political circles, there is keen interest in whether former Governor Kim Kyung-soo, a close aide of former President Moon, will be included in the pardon list. Kim was sentenced to two years in prison for the 'Druking comment manipulation' case and was specially pardoned in December 2022, but his rights were not restored. As a result, his eligibility to run for office is restricted until December 2027.

The Presidential Office has stated regarding Kim and others that "no decision has been made on the restoration of rights." However, given the current conflicts between ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly and the government’s policy to minimize pardons for politicians, it is analyzed that he will likely be excluded from the list.

Former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cho Yoon-sun is also mentioned as a candidate for pardon and restoration of rights. Cho served one year and two months in prison for the cultural blacklist case. During last year’s New Year special pardon, her confirmed sentences were restored, but sentences confirmed afterward were not.

The Ministry of Justice will hold the Pardon Review Committee meeting at 2 p.m. on August 8th at the Government Complex Gwacheon. The committee consists of Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecution Bureau Song Kang, Chief of the Public Trial and Litigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Jeong Hee-do, and five external members.

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