Guessing game begins over Aug. 15 presidential pardons

President Yoon Suk-yeol answers reporters' questions upon arrival at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Deliberations are underway on possible pardons for convicted politicians and tycoons on Liberation Day on Aug. 15, according to presidential office officials who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo.

Presidential pardons have been customarily granted on that holiday, which marks the end of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea.

On his way to work on Wednesday, President Yoon Suk-yeol declined to comment to reporters if he would grant a pardon to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is out on parole after serving six months out of a two-and-a-half-year sentence for bribery and embezzlement.

Officials denied that pardons were discussed at a March 28 meeting at the Blue House between Yoon and then-President Moon Jae-in.

Moon pardoned his predecessor Park Geun-hye in December on account of her deteriorating health, but did not grant pardons to the Samsung vice chairman or other prominent convicted politicians, including former President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyoung-soo.

Kim, a close ally of Moon, was convicted in 2019 of opinion-rigging in the lead-up to the 2017 presidential election.

He was sentenced to two years in prison for colluding with a team of online bloggers, including Kim Dong-won, widely known by his alias Druking, to illegally generate favorable opinions about Moon ahead of the 2017 presidential election. That sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court last July.

Kim was not included on a list of convicts granted early parole at the end of June, heightening speculation that he could be pardoned instead.

Former president Lee, who was convicted in 2018 of embezzlement and bribery, had his 17-year prison sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court in October 2020.

In June, his jail term was suspended for three months by prosecutors on grounds of his ill health.

Aides to Yoon said in March he believed Lee should be pardoned.

In comments to reporters on June 9, Yoon hinted that the former president should be pardoned.

“If one looks at other precedents, I don’t think it’s right that someone should be behind bars for almost 20 years,” the president said.

“Pardons granted on Liberation Day are generally quite big affairs,” said one official close to Yoon who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity on Thursday. “The current dilemma is that it’s difficult to pardon only one out of the two convicted politicians,” he added, referring to Kim and Lee.

The state of the economy could also factor into the president’s decision to pardon the Samsung vice chairman or Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who was convicted of bribery in February 2018 but had his sentence reduced to time already served by an appeals court in October that year.

The two businessmen, who were both found guilty of giving bribes to former President Park and her close confidante Choi Soon-sil to win government favors, are subject to restrictions on their business activities because of their convictions.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said at a July 13 economic forum that pardoning prominent businessmen could help in light of the country’s current economic circumstances.

“If they have been punished and suffered enough, it could be helpful to the economy to pardon key players in the economy,” Han said.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]