Lee pardons ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk, cites need for national unity

Cho Kuk (right), a then leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, is seen during a plenary session of the National Assembly held on Dec. 2. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday pardoned former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, a key architect of former President Moon Jae-in's prosecutorial reforms, who fell from grace over a college admissions scandal involving his children.

Effective Friday, the pardon, approved during an extraordinary Cabinet meeting, not only frees Cho from serving his sentence but also restores his eligibility to run for public office — potentially allowing him to contest in the 2026 local elections.

Cho was one of the 2,188 people with criminal convictions who were granted a presidential pardon.

The pardon will serve as an opportunity to achieve national unity by overcoming social division and conflict, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said in a media briefing at the Government Complex Seoul on Monday.

Lee's spokesperson Kang Yu-jung also said Lee sympathized with the Justice Ministry's proposal to pardon figures including Cho.

Convicted of forging academic credentials for his children to help their college admission and abuse of power over a government audit, Cho has been in prison since December, when his two-year sentence was finalized at the top court.

Had he completed his jail term in December 2026, he would have been ineligible to stand as a candidate until December 2031 under the Public Official Election Act, as the law bans him from running for office for the following five years.

Cho, a former Seoul National University law professor, was a key ally of Moon and a prominent advocate for prosecutorial reform. As justice minister in 2019, he sought to limit the powers of prosecutors but resigned just 35 days into the job amid an investigation into a swath of financial and academic malpractice involving him and his family.

Prosecutors investigated Cho after revelations that his daughter had received unfair advantages through falsified or exaggerated extracurricular records, including being wrongfully listed as the first author of a research paper. In 2024, his daughter Cho Min was found guilty of using forged documents to enter university and medical school, fined 10 million won ($7,500), and stripped of her medical degree.

The probe into Cho was led by then-Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol, whose high-profile clash with Moon’s administration forced him out of the prosecution and fueled his rise in politics. Yoon won the 2022 presidential election. Cho later founded the Rebuilding Korea Party, which secured 12 seats in the 300-member National Assembly in April 2024.

Cho has repeatedly called the prosecution politically motivated, a view echoed by Moon, who urged the incumbent presidential office to grant him clemency last week.

Also pardoned Monday were Cho’s wife Chung Kyung-shim, who was handed a four-year sentence for related offenses, and former liberal lawmaker Choe Kang-wook, who was convicted of issuing a false internship certificate for Cho’s son.

Cho Kuk (left), the then chair of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and Lee Jae Myung (right, back), the then leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, are seen together during the parliamentary plenary session on Nov. 28. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

Also among the pardoned were former Seoul education chief Cho Hee-yeon, who lost his seat after he was convicted of abusing his power in the process of hiring five teachers; human rights activist-turned-liberal politician Youn Mee-hyang, who was handed down a suspended sentence for embezzling donations to "comfort women," victims of sex slavery during the Japanese colonial rule.

Conservative politicians such as former lawmakers Jung Chan-min, Hong Moon-jong and Shim Hak-bong were also granted pardons. Among the entrepreneurs was SK Networks Chairman Chey Shin-won.

President Lee also granted clemency to 184 cargo truck drivers who were convicted of instigating violence during their nationwide strike when Lee's conservative predecessor, Yoon, was in office.

Alongside, administrative disciplinary measures, such as speeding tickets, will be rescinded for some 830,000 people, and some 3.24 million people will have their loan delinquency records erased, according to the government.

Lee's decision follows a decision by the Amnesty Review Committee under the Justice Ministry that was chaired by Minister Jung the previous week.

The decision was made just before the National Liberation Day holiday which falls on Friday. A South Korean president tends to grant presidential amnesties marking either the Aug. 15 Liberation Day or the Lunar New Year's Day.