hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol prepares to confer the certificate of appointment to Cho Ji-ho as the next commissioner general of the Korea National Police Agency on Aug. 12, 2024, at the presidential office in Seoul. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday signed off on his fifth round of special pardons to mark Liberation Day. 

Politicians and public officials who were involved in the National Intelligence Service (NIS) online comment-rigging scandal during the Lee Myung-bak administration and influence-peddling case of the Park Geun-hye administration were included in the list, such as Won Sei-hoon, former director of the National Intelligence Service, and Cho Yoon-sun, the presidential senior secretary for political affairs under Park. 

The inclusion of such figures has prompted the opposition to slam the president for “unleashing the forces behind corruption scandals.”

Justice Minister Park Sung-jae announced a list pardoning 1,219 people including the self-employed, small and medium-sized business owners, and poor people who committed crimes to support themselves, prisoners eligible for special consideration, business figures, former key public officials, and politicians.

The special pardons will take effect on Thursday, Aug. 15, National Liberation Day. The Ministry of Justice stated that the purpose of the special pardons was to “enhance economic dynamism, support the stability of the people’s livelihoods, and overcome social conflict to promote national unity.”

However, it seems that the pardons will do anything but promote national unity, as 17 key public officials and 29 politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties included in the list announced by the ministry were responsible for the NIS comment-rigging scandal and influence-peddling controversy under previous conservative administrations. 

Key among them are those who played roles in the influence-peddling scandal and blacklisting during the Park Geun-hye administration — cases Yoon himself investigated as a prosecutor. Cho Yoon-sun, who served her total sentence of 14 months for her role in the blacklist of cultural figures seen as unfavorable to the Park government — including filmmaker Bong Joon-ho and others — was pardoned and had her rights and privileges restored. 

Others who had their rights and privileges restored Tuesday were Hyun Ki-hwan, the senior secretary for political affairs under Park that was behind the “white list” incident that provided illegal support for conservative organizations, and An Chong-bum, the Blue House senior secretary for policy coordination found guilty of abusing his power to force businesses to fund the Mir and K-Sports foundations. 

Won Sei-hoon, the spy chief under Lee Myung-bak who was handed a prison sentence for running an online opinion-rigging campaign, was also pardoned and had his civil rights reinstated. In December 2022, Won had the remainder of his sentence halved in a New Year’s special pardon, and was released on parole in August of last year.  

Cho Hyun-oh, the police commissioner general also found guilty in the online opinion-rigging case, had his rights restored. Kang Shin-myung and Lee Cheol-seong, both police commissioner generals who were found guilty of interfering in elections, were also on the list of figures pardoned and subject to restoration of rights. 

Kim Kyoung-soo, the former governor of South Gyeongsang Province who was pardoned in 2022 with six months left in his sentence for his part in an online opinion rigging scandal in 2018, had his rights and privileges reinstated. 

Democrats decried the president’s special pardons as a “far cry from national unity.” 

Party senior spokesperson Lee Hae-sik said the pardons of figures with ties to major scandals under Park Geun-hye constituted “unleashing the forces behind influence-peddling.” 

“Letting off a host of anti-democratic forces of deep-rooted corruption who sought to destroy democracy with their influence-peddling and rigging of opinion may help President Yoon achieve unity with former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, but he must know that it is a far cry national unity,” the spokesperson criticized. 

Meanwhile, the ruling People Power Party saw the pardons as a gesture toward unity. 

“As an exercise in the authority vested in the president, we see these as pardons and reinstatements aimed at unity,” party senior spokesperson Kwak Kyu-taek told the Hankyoreh. 

By Lee Seung-jun, staff reporter; Kang Jae-gu, staff reporter; Son Hyun-soo, staff reporter; Jeong Hye-min, staff reporter

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