President Lee Myung-bak will not grant special pardons for local prisoners and convicted people on the National Liberation Day, which falls on Aug. 15, one of Lee's close aides said Thursday.

South Korea's president usually grants a special pardon in commemoration of major national holidays. The Liberation Day marks the end of the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula.

"This year, there will be no presidential pardons on Aug. 15," the aide said on the condition of anonymity.

"The amnesty on Liberation Day is not an annual event," the aide said. "And the right to grant pardons should be strictly exercised, and its use must be restrained."

The move had been widely expected because the Justice Ministry didn't review a list of convicted people for potential pardons next month.

Since his inauguration, Lee has announced presidential pardons five times and three of them were made on the Liberation Day. (Yonhap News)