Ex-President Lee likely to be pardoned by year-end: reports

Former President Lee Myung-bak (left) and former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol appears to be considering granting presidential pardons to politicians and businessmen currently serving jail time, including former President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, by the end of this year, according to reports quoting multiple sources from the ruling bloc.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to open a pardon review committee on Dec. 20 to review the candidates and announce the final list immediately after the Cabinet meeting on Dec. 27.

Former President Lee is likely to be pardoned around midnight on Dec. 28, according to multiple local media outlets, citing sources from the presidential office and the ruling People Power Party.

In March 2018, Lee was sentenced to 17 years in prison, a fine of 13 billion won ($9.9 million) and an additional penalty of 5.78 billion won for bribery charges by the Supreme Court.

Lee's term was suspended for treating a chronic disease on June 28 this year. However, without a pardon or parole, he would remain in prison until 2036, when he would be 95 years old.

Former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyung-soo is reportedly to be pardoned but without reinstatement. Even if Kim is released from prison, he would be disqualified from running in the next presidential election in May 2028.

He was sentenced to two years in prison in July last year on charges of manipulating online opinions in favor of former President Moon Jae-in ahead of the 2017 presidential election.

Former Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan is also expected to be included on the list. He was released on parole on March 17 after serving a five-year prison term on charges of taking bribes from the spy agency while in office.

Chung Kyung-sim, the wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, is unlikely to be included among the upcoming year-end special pardons.

In January, she was sentenced to a four-year prison sentence on a number of charges linked to falsifying documents to help her daughter gain admission to medical school and for other actions concerning a private equity fund.

She applied for a suspension for execution for health reasons while serving her sentence and was released on Oct. 4. But she was resentenced on Dec. 4 after the court did not extend the suspension.

A senior official of the presidential office said on condition of anonymity, “It is still too early to figure out who is to be pardoned. Because pardons are the president’s authority, we cannot know the exact list until the day of the pardons.”