Choi Shinwon, Choi Jisung, and Jang Choongki Included
Former Vice Governor Lee Hwayoung Excluded
Sung Ho Jung, Minister of Justice, is announcing the special pardon list for August 15 Liberation Day at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News
On August 11, the Lee Jaemyung administration granted a special pardon to 2,188 individuals, including former leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party Cho Kuk and his wife, as well as former Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Meehyang.
Minister of Justice Sung Ho Jung held a briefing at the Government Seoul Office on the same day and announced that a special pardon and reinstatement of rights for 2,188 individuals, including former leader Cho, will take effect on August 15.
The pardon list includes former leader Cho and his wife, former Dongyang University professor Chung Kyungshim. Cho was convicted in December last year on charges related to his children's university admissions and obstruction of a Blue House inspection, and is currently serving a two-year prison sentence. He is scheduled for release in December next year, with more than one year remaining on his sentence. Professor Chung was indicted for forging documents related to her son's college application and submitting them to his high school homeroom teacher; in December last year, the Supreme Court finalized a sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years.
The list also includes former lawmakers Choi Kangwook and Yoon Meehyang, former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Heeyeon, and former Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yonggu. Several ruling party figures, including lawmaker Yoon Konyoung, former Blue House civil affairs secretary Baek Wonwoo, and former Minister of Environment Kim Eunkyung, were also granted pardons. From the opposition, former lawmakers Hong Moonjong and Jung Chanmin were included.
Among business figures, former SK Networks chairman Choi Shinwon, former Samsung Electronics vice chairman Choi Jisung, and former Samsung Electronics presidents Jang Choongki and Park Sangjin were pardoned and reinstated.
However, Lee Hwaryoung, former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace, who was involved in the "North Korea remittance" case, was excluded from this special pardon.
The government also implemented extensive administrative relief measures to support the livelihood economy, granting special reductions for 834,499 individuals subject to administrative sanctions in fields such as information and communications construction, food service, subsistence fishing, and driver's licenses.
Additionally, under the credit recovery support plan, approximately 3.24 million people with records of minor delinquencies will receive credit recovery assistance.
Minister of Justice Sung Ho Jung stated, "This pardon is focused on creating an opportunity for national unity and revitalizing the economy," adding, "Through the first pardon since the launch of the people’s sovereignty government, we hope to heal social divisions and achieve national unity."
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