President Yoon repeatedly abuses his pardon power

Justice Minister Park Sung-jae holds a briefing on this year’s Liberation Day special pardon at the Government Complex in Seoul on August 13. Reporter Han Soo-bin

This year’s August 15 Liberation Day special pardon included a number of senior members of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations who were involved in political scandals, including public opinion manipulation. It is a repeat of the cycle of pardons for those involved in political scandals that have occurred since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office.

This contrasts with Yoon's emphasis on the need for strict punishment by investigating and prosecuting them when he was a prosecutor. Former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was convicted of the "Druking Online Opinion Rigging Case," was also reinstated for “balancing” ruling and opposition figures.

Critics say the president has repeatedly abused his pardon power.

In August 2022, Yoon reinstated Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was paroled after serving two and a half years in prison for a political scandal, in his first special pardon since taking office under the slogan of “Overcoming the Economic Crisis.” At the time, the president refrained from pardoning former bureaucrats and politicians.

Later that year, Yoon pardoned and reinstated former President Lee Myung-bak, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for bribery and embezzlement, in a 2023 New Year's special pardon and began "forgiveness" against officials involved in political scandals.

Kim Tae-hyo, the incumbent first deputy director of the National Security Office, who was accused of leaking secret documents while serving in the Blue House during the Lee Myung-bak government, was pardoned two months after his conviction.

Former Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Won Se-hoon and others in the National Intelligence Service, the Defense Security Command, and the Cyber Operations Command who were involved in the manipulation of online comments, as well as former Vice Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and former NIS directors Nam Jae-joon, Lee Byung-gi, and Lee Byung-ho who were involved in the bribery case of the NIS special activity expenses during the Park Geun-hye administration, were also pardoned and reinstated.

A number of key figures related to the political controversies during the Park administration were also reinstated. They include former presidential chief of staff Kim Gi-chun, former senior presidential secretary for political affairs Cho Yoon-sun and Park Joon-woo, former senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Cho Won-dong, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo, and former secretary Ahn Bong-geun, Lee Jae-man and Jung Ho-sung, who were called three close aides to former president Park. At the time, the government said, "We will give a special pardon to key public officials who have been judged by the law for committing illegal acts in accordance with wrong practices related to their positions and duties in the course of performing state affairs, giving them an opportunity to contribute to the development of the country again." In August last year, former chief of staff of the Defense Security Command So Gang-won, who was sentenced to one year in prison for inspecting the bereaved families of the ferry Sewol disaster, was reinstated under the National Liberation Day special pardon.

Under Yoon's fourth special pardon in February, former presidential chief of staff Kim Gi-chun and former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin were exempted from the rest of their sentences and also reinstated. Suspicions of "promised pardons" were raised when they gave up their re-appeal ahead of the pardon. This is because a pardon requires the sentence to be finalized. Yoon appointed Kim Kwan-jin as vice chairman of the National Defense Innovation Commission under direct presidential control.

The Liberation Day special pardon effectively completed the cycle of pardons for those responsible for political scandals.

Yoon pardoned and reinstated former high-ranking officials, including former NIS director Won Se-hoon, former senior presidential secretaries for political affairs Cho Yoon-sun, Hyun Ki-hwan, and Ahn Jong-beom, and former chiefs of the National Police Agency Kang Shin-myung, Lee Chul-sung, and Cho Hyun-oh. They have something in common that they have committed crimes related to state affairs, such as election intervention, public opinion manipulation, illegal support and exclusion of support by mobilizing state agencies. They all had the commonality of using the state apparatus to commit crimes against the national flag, including election interference, public opinion rigging, and illegal support and exclusion of support.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.