Tag: pardon

It looks like President Yoon is about to follow through on one of his campaign promises:

Former President Lee Myung-bak is expected to receive a special pardon later this year as part of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s second round of special pardons.

According to the presidential office, Yoon is expected to grant special pardons at the end of the year. The presidential pardons are likely to be granted on December 28.

The former president is serving a 17-year prison sentence for embezzlement and bribery. Lee, who governed the country from 2008 to 2013, was charged with 16 criminal allegations in 2018 and sentenced in 2020. 

Currently, Lee is out of prison, having been granted a temporary suspension of his sentence due to health issues. He initially filed the request for a three-month temporary suspension in June and then requested an extension for another three months in September. His suspension is set to expire on Dec. 28 at midnight. 

The Ministry of Justice will review the beneficiaries of the pardon on Dec. 20 and the government is expected to announce the official list on Dec. 27 after a Cabinet meeting.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is looking like it is only a matter of time before ex-President Lee Myung-bak receives a pardon:

A high-level official in Yoon’s office told the JoongAng Ilbo Wednesday that the president will await the prosecutors’ decision. The head of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Hong Seung-wook, is known to be close to Yoon, who formerly served as head of the state prosecution agency.  
   
Even if Hong green-lights Lee’s suspension, the former president’s jail term will remain valid. Some legal experts predict Hong will authorize Lee’s suspension and Yoon will follow up with a presidential pardon on Liberation Day to finally set Lee free.  
   
Talk about a pardon for Lee has been going for months, especially after former conservative President Park Geun-hye was pardoned last December by former liberal President Moon Jae-in. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It appears the reason that Yoon Suk-yeol is asking President Moon to pardon former President Lee Myung-bak when Yoon could just do it himself when he takes office is to promote national reconciliation. If that is what Yoon wants to promote have Moon give out the pardon to the man he personally went after to humiliate and put in jail is a very symbolic way of doing this:

 President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a one-on-one lunch meeting with President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday with no aides in attendance for a “heart-to-heart” discussion, his spokesperson said.

Yoon plans to use the meeting to ask for a special pardon for imprisoned former President Lee Myung-bak, spokesperson Kim Eun-hye told reporters during a press briefing. Lee has been serving a 17-year prison term for embezzlement and bribery.

“The meeting will serve as an occasion where they can hold a heart-to-heart discussion,” she said. “President-elect Yoon has long thought that he would ask for a pardon for former President Lee Myung-bak, and we hope this meeting will serve as a chance for national unity and reconciliation.”

Multiple sources in Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling bloc said chances are high that Moon will pardon Lee.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This file photo, dated Dec. 19, 2011, shows SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won surrounded by reporters as he enters the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office to be grilled over allegations that he embezzled a massive amount of group funds in collusion with his younger brother. Chey was included in the list of special pardons that President Park Geun-hye granted to high-profile businessmen and more than 6,500 people on Aug. 13, 2015. The pardons are part of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary on Aug. 15 of Korea’s independence from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. (Yonhap)