Lee plans mass pardon of petty offenders of law

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Lee plans mass pardon of petty offenders of law

In an attempt to help hard-luck cases get back on their feet, President Lee Myung-bak next month will pardon about 1.5 million people convicted of relatively petty crimes, including traffic offenders whose driver’s licenses have been suspended or revoked.

In an interview with KBS radio yesterday, Lee spoke about the planned presidential pardon for Liberation Day on Aug. 15. The interview was arranged in place of Lee’s 20th biweekly radio address.

Lee also discussed the current economic situation, declaring that it is too early to abandon active stimulation measures that are widely credited with easing the downturn. The president touched on other issues, ranging from education reform to the recently passed media industry reform bills.

On the pardon front, Lee made clear that his planned actions are intended for the common citizen.

“Convicted business executives and public servants have sought presidential pardons, but the Aug. 15 pardon will solely be for the convicted farmers, fishermen and small business owners whose petty crimes have made it difficult to make ends meet,” Lee said. “The administration wants to help in particular those whose jobs are linked to driving who have had their driver’s licenses suspended or revoked.

“Including farmers, fishermen, self-employed people and traffic offenders, about 1.5 million are expected to be pardoned,” Lee said. “There will be no exceptions. They will all be pardoned 100 percent. It is my plan to comfort their hearts and give them courage.”

According to Blue House sources, the revoked licenses of those who had been convicted of drunk driving will be restored for first-time offenders.

“If there are more than two counts of drunk driving, then the driver should be treated as a repeat offender, and the license will not be restored,” a Blue House official said. “Even if a driver was a first-time offender driving under the influence of alcohol, the driver will not be pardoned if he or she drove without a license or was involved in a traffic accident.”

Those who failed to cooperate with DUI breath and blood tests or with previous hit-and-run records will not be pardoned even if they were first-time DUI offenders, the source said.

The Justice Ministry said a committee to evaluate the presidential pardons will soon be called on to decide specifics.

“We will make the announcement about the details around Liberation Day,” said Justice Ministry spokesman Kim Ju-hyeon.

The planned pardons of traffic offenders will be the second such presidential pardon by Lee. Such pardons had been granted last year, including first-time DUI offenders, when Lee ordered them to mark his 100th day in office.

The first pardon of traffic offenders was carried out by the Kim Young-sam administration in 1995. Since then, four more presidential pardons have taken place for traffic offenders by the Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Lee administrations. Since 1995, a total of 23.12 million traffic offenders have been pardoned by presidents.

Meanwhile, in his interview yesterday, Lee said it is premature to think about an “exit strategy” for measures to address the economic slowdown, although many countries have spoken highly of Korea’s efforts.

“All the countries around the world say that Korea had responded the most successfully and that Korea will grow the most among the OECD nations next year,” Lee said. “Although many say so, we are responding carefully. Some say that the government must prepare for the days after the crisis, talking about an exit strategy. But I think it’s too premature to do so.”

Although Korea has more work to do, Lee said, “I expect that we will recover earlier than any other country around the world so that the government can bring about benefits to ordinary citizens.”

Lee also defended his administration’s education policies, making clear that “the intention is a student must be able to go to a desired university with only a public education.” Lee said such a change will not be possible instantly in a nation heavily relying on private education, but his government will work hard to fundamentally resolve the perennial problems associated with public education.

Lee said he expected top universities will participate in the changes by selecting students through more diversified admission systems, rather than relying on test scores, starting next year. “By the end of my presidential term, almost all universities will do so,” Lee said. “I expect the nation will support the new college admission policy once they witness the changes next summer.”

Lee also said the media industry measures, approved last week at the National Assembly after pandemonium, will contribute to Korea’s competitiveness, dismissing arguments from opposition lawmakers that the changes were intended to support the Lee administration’s attempt to control the press. “I think the era when an administration can control media has ended,” Lee said. “I don’t want to ask media to report favorably on the administration, and I don’t think such a request will be accepted by the media.”

“When broadcasting and communications merge, new technologies will be produced, and that is the world trend,” Lee said. “Because Korea has advanced IT technologies, we will be at an advantage in global competition ... When broadcasting and communications industries merge around the world, Korea should lead the efforts to establish the standard with our advanced technologies. And I think we should create good jobs through such a change.” Lee said the issue must not be interpreted politically or ideologically, stressing that the change is a reality that cannot be delayed anymore.

The president urged Korean society to have more of a centrist point of view, adding that his administration’s policies will follow the middle-of-the-road path. He said his personal affairs will not be bound to domestic politics, noting that Korea’s status in the international community is surprisingly high and he will appoint officials to match that reputation.


By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]
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