Lunar New Year pardon list includes former defense minister, chief of staff

Home > National > Politics

Lunar New Year pardon list includes former defense minister, chief of staff

Published: 06 Feb. 2024, 15:52

SARAH KIM
[email protected]

President Yoon Suk Yeol presides over a Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Tuesday. He granted special pardons to key political and business figures ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday granted special pardons to political figures, including former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and former presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-Choon, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Yoon granted special pardons to 980 people, including businesspeople, former key officials, small business owners, journalists, young people and public transportation drivers, the presidential office and Justice Ministry announced.

In a Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning, Yoon noted the latest round of pardons included five businesspeople and seven politicians and was "focused on creating a vibrant economy for the people's livelihood."

Kim Kwan-jin, who served as defense minister under both the Lee Myung-bak and President Park Geun-hye administrations, was sentenced to two years in prison by the Seoul High Court in August last year for ordering the military cyber command to manipulate online public opinion in favor of the conservative government ahead of the general and presidential elections in 2012. He has also served as chief of the Blue House National Security Office in the Park administration and is currently serving as vice chairman of the presidential defense innovation committee.

Kim Ki-Choon, who served under former President Park, was convicted of involvement in the creation of a blacklist of cultural figures critical of the Park administration, excluding them from governmental subsidies.

Former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun, who was convicted alongside former chief of staff Kim over involvement in the cultural blacklist, however, was not included in the latest round of pardons.

Former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, left, and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon. [YONHAP]

Prominent businesspeople pardoned included SK Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, CEO of SK On, convicted of misappropriating corporate funds, and LIG Group Chairman Koo Bon-sang for accounting fraud.

The Justice Ministry said these executives were sentenced for incidents that occurred while running a business and had already served their prison sentences or probations.

This marked Yoon's fourth round of special pardons since he took office in May 2022. Presidential special pardons are usually granted around holidays.

Over 450,000 people were granted amnesty, exempting them from administrative penalties ahead of the Lunar New Year on Saturday. These included cargo drivers, food industry workers and fishermen.

Last week, the Justice Ministry's committee on special pardons reviewed a list of eligible candidates before recommending it to the Cabinet.

Later Tuesday, the Justice Ministry announced the final shortlist.

"Pardons were given to former major public officials, politicians from the rival parties and longtime journalists who were punished for performing their duties according to past wrongful practices," Sim Woo-jung, the acting justice minister, said in a press briefing at the Seoul government complex after the Cabinet meeting. "The pardons focused on providing an opportunity for vibrant economic development and national unity."

The latest presidential pardon included former MBC executives convicted of interfering in labor union activities.

Seven politicians from opposing parties were also pardoned, including Lee Woo-hyun, a former lawmaker of the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor to the conservative People Power Party (PPP), who was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of receiving illegal political funds, and Shim Ki-joon, a former lawmaker of the liberal Democratic Party (DP), also charged with receiving illegal political funds.

General criminal offenders on the list excluded those who committed murder, robbery or sexual violence. They included 33 small business owners, 160 drivers who were punished for traffic accidents while on duty, and 129 young people under 34.

The special pardons will take effect Wednesday.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]