Tag: Park Geun-hye

Here is some surprising news because the Moon administration had previously said they would not do this:

 President Moon Jae-in said Friday that he granted a special pardon to former President Park Geun-hye, currently serving a 22-year prison term for corruption, to bolster national unity and in consideration of her deteriorating health. 

Moon said he decided to pardon Park and exonerate former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook because there is “desperate need for national unity and humble inclusiveness,” presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee told reporters. 

“In the case of ex-President Park, it was taken into consideration that her health deteriorated a lot because (she) has served almost five years of her sentence,” Moon was quoted as saying by the spokesperson. 

Pardoning Park came as a surprise because Moon had ruled out the possibility of granting a pardon to Park.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but politically the Moon administration must have felt they had to do this if they wanted to exonerate Han Myeong-sook of corruption. It would have looked hypocritical to exonerate Han for corruption while leaving Park in jail. It is a even a worse look when one considers that Park was sent to jail for the corruption of her friend, Choi Soon-sil who took donations from business conglomerates into two sports foundations that were believed to be bribes for political favors. Choi materially benefited from the donations, but Park never did.

That is unlike Han who received $731,400 from a businessman for political favors. In the spectrum of Korean political corruption this case is actually on the low side, however the case took her out politically. Han has been a good Soldier for many years for the Korean left and the exoneration allows her to return to public life if she so chooses.

It looks like ex-Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye will continue to rot in jail for at least another year:

President Moon Jae-in is unlikely to grant Christmas pardons to his predecessors Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, a Blue House source told the JoongAng Ilbo Monday.    
   
“There will be no pardon for politicians, including former presidents,” the source, a high-ranking Blue House official, told the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity.    
   
The official cited public opinion, which is against pardons for former presidents.  
   
The source added that the idea is unpopular not only with the general public and the ruling Democratic Party, which was the opposition during the administrations of former presidents Lee and Park – both jailed for corruption – but even with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), which worries that a pardon for either could be deadly for its chances in the March presidential election. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Its official President Park will not get out of prison until 2039, though I doubt she will stay imprisoned that long. I bet she will receive a pardon well before then:

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 20-year sentence for former President Park Geun-hye in a high-profile corruption case, closing the yearslong saga that gripped the country and ultimately removed her from office in 2017.

In the sentencing hearing over an appeal filed by prosecutors against a ruling in July that reduced Park’s prison term, the country’s highest court maintained the ruling, including a fine of 18 billion won (US$15 million) and the decision to clear Park of extortion and part of abuse of power charges.

Park will have to serve 22 years in prison, which includes a two-year prison term for her 2018 conviction for illegal meddling in a nomination process of the then-ruling Saenuri Party. Given the time that she already served, she will get released in 2039.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is an opinion piece in the Asia Times by Jason Morgan, an associate professor at Reitaku University in Japan, that calls for the release of former President Park Geun-hye:

In late 2016, in a journalistic feeding frenzy of rumors and innuendo, Park’s close friend Choi Soon-sil was accused of Svengali-like behavior. Millions of South Koreans, deeply disturbed by the chicanery of those in high office, hit the streets. Impeachment followed, and the hysteria carried over to Park’s subsequent trial.

But do rumors and headlines translate into hard facts? Despite glaring inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case and cavalier refusals to follow due process, Park was impeached, convicted, and hit with a compound sentence of 33 years behind bars. In a country where a murderer may face 12 years, that is an astonishing punishment.

The evidence used against Park was based on media reportage, not objective proof. Her trial was held four days a week, making it nearly impossible for her defense team to prepare. Meanwhile, the media and prosecution kept up an onslaught of innuendo.

When it came to allegations of corruption, Park was convicted of “implicit solicitation.” Since there was no evidence of wrongdoing and the court was unable to prove that Park had committed any crime, the judiciary introduced the concept of implicit solicitation – which by definition means that there is no evidence.

Park has not been found to have received a single penny from the alleged corruption – a crime the prosecutor’s office has been frantically looking for ever since the 2016 scandal erupted, without success.

Asia Times

You can read more at the link, but these are all facts we have covered here before, but it is good to see them spreading to other media publications. However, with the Moon administration’s control of the Korean media and the international media’s love affair with President Moon, I suspect that Park will be languishing in prison for quite some time.

If you ever wondered what former President Park was convicted of that landed here in jail for 33 years, Dr. Tara O has a really good write up about it that is well worth reading:

During the initial trial, the prosecutor wanted a 30 year jail sentence.  Seoul Central District Court Judge Kim Se-yoon (김세윤) judged that Samsung’s provision of three horses owned by Samsung and associated costs (insurance, fee) worth ₩7.29 million ($6.4 million) to equestrian Chung Yu-ra was a bribe, and interpreted that Park “received” the bribe.  The judge deemed that the total amount of “bribery” received or requested was ₩23.2 billion ($18 million).  As mentioned earlier, she did not receive any money, and there is no evidence that proves bribery occurred.  On April 6, 2018, Judge Kim sentenced Park to 24 years in jail and fined her ₩1.8 billion ($16.2 million), stating “she does not show remorse.”  In fact, she stopped attending the trials after October 2017, after she realized the court was rigged.

The prosecutor appealed the case and at the appeals court, the “bribery amount from Samsung” increased to $8.68 billion ($7.8 million).  The judge increased Park’s sentence to 25 years and the fine to ₩2 billion ($180 million).  The Supreme court returned the case to the Seoul High Court, instructing it to split the case.  She also received additional jail sentences of 8 years from other cases, for a total of 33 years of prison sentences.

East Asia Research Center

I recommend reading the rest at the link, where she compares Park’s treatment to the treatment of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s wife’s corruption trial. I have always said that Korea is a rule by law country and not a rule of law country and this is a perfect example.

I wonder if the court will look into the dubious PC Tablet used by JTBC News that kickstarted the whole impeachment drive against President Park?:

 A Seoul court is set to begin a review this week of its ruling over disgraced former President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2017 following a bribery scandal that rocked the country.

Park was impeached midterm in March 2017 on allegations she and her close friend abused their power and received billions of won in bribery from top conglomerates, including Samsung and Lotte.

The Seoul High Court is scheduled to begin the retrial Wednesday, roughly five months after the country’s top court ordered the appeals court to review the case, citing procedural issues.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but since Korea is largely a rule by law country and not a rule of law country, I figured President Park would sit in jail until another President from the Korean right is elected. I guess we will see what happens.

Here is the latest on ex-ROK President Park Geun-hye:

Ex-President Park Geun-hye’s shoulder surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul went well, and she will take two to three months to recover, doctors said Tuesday. 

Park had been treated for about a year for pain in her left shoulder while in jail for abuse of power, bribery, coercion and leaking government secrets since March 2017. 

“I believe she experienced difficulties in getting dressed, going to the toilet, eating and other basic daily activities due to the pain,” said Kim Yang-soo, the surgeon who performed the operation. “Injections and other medications were unsuccessful and the surgery was necessary.”

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the Blue House is going after anyone remotely connected with former President Park Geun-hye, here is the latest example:

The president of KAIST, Korea’s top science and engineering university, is the target of a government inquiry that some suspect to be politically motivated.

The Science Ministry on Tuesday issued a request to KAIST’s board of trustees that it suspend Shin Sung-chul, KAIST’s incumbent president, six days after it formally recommended he be criminally charged for embezzlement and breach of duty.

The board will decide whether to suspend Shin after an internal meeting next Thursday.

“I cannot help but feel devastated that such accusations are being brought up now,” Shin said at a press conference at KAIST on Tuesday. “We already received a detailed government audit at DGIST [his former workplace where the irregularities are supposed to have occurred] back in 2016.”

But analysts are claiming political motives are behind the investigation.

Shin’s alleged misconduct dates to his days as the founding president of the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), a lesser known public science and engineering institute located in Daegu.

DGIST signed a memorandum of understanding with an American research institute in February 2012. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – better known as Berkeley Lab – agreed to provide DGIST with cutting edge research equipment from its Center for X-ray Optics in exchange for research fees from DGIST.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but apparently money from DGIST was sent to Berkeley for the equipment that the government is claiming was public grant money.  Shin says the equipment was never supposed to be sent to DGIST for free by Berkeley and that public grants were not used to pay for it.

Here is why the Blue House is allegedly trying to get rid of Shin, he is an old elementary school friend of former President Park Geun-hye:

“Even if the government’s accusations are true, it is unclear how Shin can be accused of embezzlement when he himself did not take the money,” said Lee Byung-tae, a professor at KAIST’s Graduate School of Management. “Science Minister You Young-min himself said the issue was out of his hands, but this recent move looks like it has the Blue House behind it.”

Lee added that Shin’s decision to appoint Lim as a professor was completely within the realm of his discretion as university president. If wrongdoing is indeed clear, the board of trustees at KAIST can easily decide on their own to fire Shin, Lee said.

Shin has refused to step down from his position, saying he would make that decision once the board meets and reaches a conclusion.

An elementary school colleague of former President Park Geun-hye, Shin became KAIST’s president last February amid a controversial selection process in which he was accused of being a political appointment. Shin has not complained of political persecution.

Dr. Taro O has an update on the prosecution of South Korean journalist Byun Hee-jae who was jailed for writing something true.  The crux of the matter really comes to the authenticity of the PC Tablet that led to the impeachment of former President Park:

It turned out, according to the prosecutor’s own forensic report, that the tablet PC was not legitimate evidence of the alleged activity.  There were no edited files in the tablet, despite JTBC’s claims, which said Choi carried the tablet PC around and edited documents, including the Dresden speech.  Incidentally, Park gave the Dresden speech on March 18, 2014.  The Dresden speech file found in the tablet was loaded onto the tablet on March 27, 2018, which is after the fact, and it was a .gif file.  Additionally, the tablet did not even have editing software (HWP software), so there was no capability to edit the Korean language document. (17:11)  The records show that there was software for viewing only, which was loaded in November 2012 and was used to view documents until January 2013, and nothing after that, until 8 a.m., October 18, 2016–8 hours before JTBC “found” the tablet.   (17:11)

The forensic report was 700 pages long and difficult to understand.  (Byun, 119)  The report findings were inconclusive as to who owned the tablet. In fact, the tablet was set up by Kim Han-soo (김한수),former Blue House executive officer.  Kim Han-soo went to SK Telecom on June 22, 2012 and opened an account for the tablet under his company’s name “Malay Company.” (1:23)  This was around the time of the presidential elections.  On October 8, 2017, Shin Hye-won (신혜원) came forward to say the tablet is hers–that she was the primary user.  Shin worked on then-candidate Park Geun-hye’s campaign in 2012.  She saw in the media various photos, documents, and phone numbers found in the tablet and recognized them.  Even Ko Young-tae (고영태), a key witness who helped the special prosecutor during the impeachment trial, stated “I understand that she [Choi] is not the type of person who can use a tablet PC,” placing doubt on the claim that the tablet belongs to Choi or that she used it.  Choi has also said the tablet does not belong to her, that she does not even know how to use it, that she has never even seen the tablet in question, and asked to see the tablet.  (1:40) The court never showed her the tablet. (1:54)

Despite these and other facts that raise serious questions about the integrity of JTBC’s claim that the tablet is Choi’s and that Choi edited the documents, thereby “having the monopoly of the state affairs”–Gukjeong Nongdan–the National Assembly used the tablet as the “evidence” to impeach Park.  Thus Park was impeached based on an absurd, illogical accusation incited by JTBC and the media that stirred up the Korean people’s passions.  [East Asia Research Center]

The authenticity of the Tablet PC is something I have long questioned because it just didn’t make any sense when looked at objectively.  However, it appears that the fix may be in to convict Byun Hee-jae:

Byun Hee-jai has asked judge Park Joo-young for further examination of the tablet to try to determine who it belongs to.  Of seven witnesses Byun asked for, the judge allowed only two journalists from JTBC–Seo Bokyun (서복현) and Cho Taek-soo (조택수), and rejected Choi Seo-won, Shin Hye-won, Ko Young-tae, Kim Hans-soo, and No Seung-gwon (노승권) (former prosecutor who lied that the file was in the tablet when it was not) as witnesses.  (1:15) It seems pretty clear that the tablet does not belong to Choi.  At minimum, there are serious questions whether the tablet is Choi’s or not.  As stated above, the prosecutor’s report is inconclusive.  Yet prosecutor Hong Seong-joon maintains that the tablet belongs to Choi Seo-won.

If the verdict is not reached by the expiration date of the trial, which is early December, Byun must be released from jail.  (1:45) There are signs that the trial is being rushed in order to reach a decision prior to that date–the judge rejected other requests from the accused, including putting the key witnesses on the stand, as stated above, and not allowing an examination to try to determine who owns the tablet.  The judge seems set to make a decision without hard evidence.

I recommend reading the whole article at the link, but the Moon administration has been able to silence the Druking investigation into online opinion tampering, so I would not be surprised if they are able to silence Byun Hee-jae and other conservative journalists reporting on the Tablet PC as well through the libel laws.  I hope I am pleasantly surprised and the judge drops the charges against Byun, but I guess we will see what happens in the coming weeks.