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The pardon review committee to examine candidates for the August 15 Liberation Day special pardon and restoration of rights will be held on the 8th.
This special pardon is also expected to focus mainly on ordinary citizens and small business owners involved in livelihood-related offenses, drawing attention to whether former Gyeongnam Province Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was pardoned without restoration of rights, will be included among those to have their rights restored.
The Ministry of Justice will hold the pardon review committee meeting at 2 p.m. at the Government Complex Gwacheon to review candidates for the August 15 Liberation Day special pardon and restoration of rights.
The pardon review committee, under the Minister of Justice, consists of nine members including one chairman. Currently, it is composed of Chairman Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, Song Kang, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecution Bureau, Jeong Hee-do, Head of the Public Trial and Prosecution Department at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and five external members. The committee reviews the appropriateness of special pardons, sentence reductions, and restoration of rights, which the minister submits to the president.
Ahead of this pardon review, political circles are focused on whether former Governor Kim, who was sentenced to two years in prison for the Druking comment manipulation case and pardoned without restoration of rights in December 2022, will have his rights restored. Kim currently remains disqualified from running for office until December 2027. Restoration of rights refers to the reinstatement of legal qualifications lost or suspended due to the effect of a criminal sentence.
On the previous day, Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon posted on his Facebook, urging for the restoration of rights for former Governor Kim Kyung-soo, stating, "I urge the restoration of rights for former Governor Kim Kyung-soo" to promote politics of unity.
In his post, Governor Kim said, "'Pardoning my side' and 'selective pardons' have already been done sufficiently. This August 15 special pardon must be different," adding, "Politics of inclusion and unity is desperately needed. I hope the restoration of rights for former Governor Kim can be the starting point."
On the other hand, Jeong Seong-ho, a leading figure of the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction in the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared on a radio program on the 6th and said, "There is a high possibility that the pardon card for former Governor Kim will be used to divide the opposition, but I believe now is not the right time," and predicted, "Around March next year, when various voices emerge within the Democratic Party and signs of division appear ahead of the presidential election, the ruling party will likely use the restoration of rights card for former Governor Kim."
Meanwhile, there is also speculation about the possibility of pardoning former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Cho Yoon-sun, who served a 1 year and 2 months sentence related to the cultural blacklist case.
After the pardon review committee’s examination, Minister Park will submit the list of candidates for special pardon and restoration of rights to President Yoon Suk-yeol, who will make the final decision on the pardon and restoration of rights after the Cabinet meeting’s resolution. The candidate list for this special pardon is expected to be approved at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for the 13th.
This special pardon will be the fifth since President Yoon took office.
Previously, President Yoon pardoned about 1,600 people, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, in his first special pardon on Liberation Day in 2022.
In the second special pardon at the start of 2023, 1,373 people including former President Lee Myung-bak and former Governor Kim were pardoned, and in the August Liberation Day special pardon of the same year, 2,176 people were pardoned.
This year’s Lunar New Year special pardon included seven politicians from both ruling and opposition parties such as former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and Choi Jae-won, Senior Vice Chairman of SK Group.
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