Marking the Aug. 15 National Liberation Day, President Park Geun-hye on Friday granted special pardons to more than 4,800 convicts, including a high-profile conglomerate chief.

“The government, as of Aug. 13, will implement special pardons to 4,876 convicts, including small-sized merchants, livelihood-related offenders and underprivileged convicts,” Kim said in a press briefing at the Seoul Government Complex.

“Also, 730 model prisoners will be paroled, 75 juvenile offenders temporarily dismissed from reformatories and 925 livelihood-related convicts released from probation.”

Some 1.4 million people who received administrative sanctions, such as revocation or suspension of driving licenses, were also granted commutation, he added.
But felons and political offenders, especially those convicted for corruption charges, were not included in the list.

The minister’s announcement was delivered shortly after an extraordinary Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae.

The pardons were part of the nation’s celebration of the 71st anniversary of independence from Japan’s colonial rule.

Among the beneficiaries was Lee Jay-hyun, the chairman of the nation’s largest food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, who also suffers from a rare disease of the nervous system.

“I have based my (pardon) decision on the opinions of all levels of society, seeking to promote national unity and economic recovery,” the president said in her opening speech at the Cabinet meeting.

“The intention was to help small-sized merchants resume their way of living.”

Park also said on Thursday, during a meeting with senior secretaries, that the current economic challenges are pressing upon the lives of the people, alluding to an extensive range of pardons for petty crimes.

Her remarks were largely in answer to Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, the newly elected chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party and also one of her closest confidants, who had called for “large-scale” pardons for convicts of minor economic crimes.

But other imprisoned or paroled businessmen -- such as Hanwha chairman Kim Seung-yeon, SK Group executive vice chairman Chey Jae-won and LIG Nex1 vice chairman Koo Bon-sang -- were left out.

Regarding the disputed pardon for the allegedly ailing conglomerate chief, the government cited medical experts’ concerns about Lee’s deteriorating health conditions.

By Bae Hyun-jung(tellme@heraldcorp.com)