New Year’s Pardon for a Large Number of Politicians Including MB and Kim Kyoung-soo

Former President Lee Myung-bak and former Gyeongsangnam-do Governor Kim Kyoung-soo. Kyunghyang Shinmun Archives

The government will finalize the list of people granted a special pardon in time for the New Year in a cabinet meeting chaired by President Yoon Suk-yeol on December 27.

The president is expected to pardon former president Lee Myung-bak (MB) and former governor of Gyeongsangnam-do Kim Kyoung-soo according to the review by the pardon review board in the Ministry of Justice on December 23.

Lee, who is expected to be pardoned and reinstated, was sentenced to seventeen years in prison for embezzlement and bribery in October 2020, but at present, his sentence has been suspended due to health issues. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office investigated Lee and forced him to stand trial in April 2018 when President Yoon served as the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

Kim Kyoung-soo, in prison for the Druking scandal--online opinion rigging--is expected to be pardoned but not reinstated. The Supreme Court sentenced Kim to two years in prison last July, and his sentence will end next May. However, if he is not reinstated, he will not be eligible to run in an election until May 2028.

Kim Ki-choon, former chief of staff; Choi Kyung-hwan, former deputy prime minister and minister of strategy and finance; Nam Jae-joon, Lee Byung-kee and Lee Byung-ho, former directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), who all served in the Park Geun-hye government as well as Won Sei-hoon, former NIS director in the Lee Myung-bak government are also expected to be pardoned and reinstated.

The president is likely to pardon and reinstate figures from the opposition as well, such as Jun Byung-hun, former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker who also served as the senior secretary to the president on political affairs in the Moon Jae-in government; former Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Gye-ryoon; and former mayor of Gwangju Kang Woon-tae.

When the cabinet reaches a decision on the pardon Tuesday, it will go into effect the next day at midnight December 28.