"Call for Decision for National Unity" Ahn Cheol-soo Urges President Moon to Release Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye

Ahn Cheol-soo: "If this continues, greater political division will begin... Requesting President Moon's decision for national unity"
Lee Nak-yeon faces public backlash after raising pardon talks for Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, requested President Moon Jae-in to make a decisive move for national unity by urging a suspension of sentence execution for former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye this coming Christmas. However, considering that politicians who previously mentioned pardons for former presidents have all faced public criticism, Ahn’s proposal is also expected to spark controversy.

At a press conference at the National Assembly on the 16th, Ahn said, “It is not because they did nothing wrong. We should not simply label their imprisonment as political retaliation.” He added, “But isn’t this enough? The two former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who were the main figures in the December 12 coup, did not spend more than two years in prison. Former President Kim Young-sam, who imprisoned them, pardoned them before his term ended.”

Ahn continued, “I have heard that the health conditions of the two former presidents are not good. They are also not in a position to exert political influence after release.” He said, “Let us start true national unity by using the suspension of sentence execution for the two.” He further requested, “Before their health deteriorates further, please allow former President Lee Myung-bak to attend Christmas worship at Somang Church with his wife, and let former President Park Geun-hye spend the year-end with her younger sibling and their family.”

Ahn also pointed out the rising intensity of attacks on opposing camps by exploiting the ‘family risks’ surrounding the candidates of the two major parties. He said, “There is even talk openly that the losing candidate among the two will go to prison. If things continue like this, politics marked by greater division and conflict than the past four and a half years will begin.”

Former Lee Nak-yeon, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea [Image source=Yonhap News]

There have been cases where requests for pardons after suspending sentence execution for former presidents backfired. Previously, Lee Nak-yon, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized pardons for the sake of national unity. However, since the issue of pardoning the two former presidents had been taboo within the Democratic Party, there was little response from the ruling party leadership, and public opinion turned cold.

Eventually, Lee officially apologized, saying, “I failed to fully understand the will of the people and the spirit of the candlelight protests.” At that time, Ahn also criticized Lee’s proposal for pardons, saying, “If there is an attempt to use pardons of former presidents for election purposes, that is unacceptable.” During his 2017 presidential campaign, he consistently emphasized that “the pardon power should not be abused” and stressed the need for discussions such as activating a pardon committee for exercising the pardon power.

Former President Kim Dae-jung [Image source=Yonhap News]

Ahn’s and Lee’s pardon proposals are compared to former President Kim Dae-jung (DJ). In December 1997, as president-elect, DJ recommended to former President Kim Young-sam (YS) the pardoning of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo. Subsequently, YS announced their pardon and reinstatement on December 20.

Considering that DJ was a victim who received a death sentence from the Chun military regime during the 1980 fabricated conspiracy case, some positive opinions emerged that DJ’s ‘magnanimous decision’ contributed to national unity. American newspapers such as The Washington Post and The New York Times reported DJ’s pardon decision as major news, stating, “President-elect Kim Dae-jung agreed to the pardons of former presidents to focus on national reconciliation and resolving the economic crisis.”

On the other hand, criticism was raised that the special pardons “undermined judicial justice and historical judgment,” pointing out that Chun Doo-hwan never apologized even once for his crimes, including the massacre of Gwangju citizens and military rebellion.

Meanwhile, criticism has also emerged in the political sphere regarding Ahn’s suspension of sentence execution proposal. On the 17th, Lee Yeon-gi, public relations special advisor to Kim Dong-yeon, the presidential candidate of the New Wave party, said, “The issue of pardoning the two former presidents has become a ‘trump card’ that conservative politicians bring up whenever they want.” He criticized, “There is no justification or conditions met for reconsidering pardons. Ultimately, this is ‘noise marketing’ aimed only at certain camps’ votes. The two former presidents have never reflected on themselves, and the public does not sympathize. The political debate is just a waste of time.”

He added, “The previous calls for forgiveness for Chun Doo-hwan and this recent call for pardons are both abrupt and unpleasant,” and criticized, “It looks like a clumsy ‘great man cosplay.’ I hope they stop such acts.”