"President Lee's Abuse of Pardon Authority...
Pardons Used as Rewards for Regime Change"
Song Eon-seok, interim leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, strongly criticized President Lee Jae-myung's first Liberation Day (8·15) special pardon since taking office on August 11, calling it "a blanket amnesty for the pro-Jo Kuk faction and the worst political pardon."
Speaking with reporters at the National Assembly that day, Song stated, "President Lee Jae-myung has abused his pardon authority to the extent that the very foundation of the judicial order is at risk of collapsing."
The first special pardon list under the Lee Jae-myung administration included former Jo Kuk Innovation Party leader Cho Kuk and his spouse, as well as former lawmakers Choi Kang-wook and Yoon Mee-hyang, and former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon. Numerous figures affiliated with former President Moon Jae-in, such as lawmaker Yoon Kun-young, former lawmaker Baek Won-woo, and former Environment Minister Kim Eun-kyung, were also included.
Song pointed out, "Former leader Cho Kuk and former lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang were pardoned without even serving half of their sentences," adding, "It's hard to understand why we bother with investigations and trials if this is how things are handled."
He continued, "Jeong Kyung-shim, the former professor who committed admissions fraud with Cho Kuk, Choi Kang-wook, the former lawmaker who assisted in the admissions fraud, and Baek Won-woo, the former lawmaker who covered up Blue House inspections, were all included in the pardon list," criticizing it as "an execution of pardon rights as a reward for regime change."
Regarding the pardon of former lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang, Song said, "She committed a heinous crime by exploiting the suffering of comfort women for personal gain," and added, "Pardoning such a person is an emotional affront to the people."
Song condemned, "The Liberation Day special pardon, carried out in arrogance and self-righteousness while ignoring opposition from the public and the opposition parties, will go down in history as a dark chapter of presidential pardon abuse."
However, Song did not express a particular position on the inclusion of opposition figures such as former Saenuri Party lawmaker Hong Moon-jong, who reportedly received a pardon at the request of Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik.
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