South Korea's Lee administration issues first pardon since taking office, including two former public officials who caused controversy

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung issued a special pardon (equivalent to a Japanese amnesty) on the 15th, which is Liberation Day, commemorating the country's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk of the minority opposition Fatherland Reform Party, who was serving time in prison for allegedly falsifying and using official documents, and former Comfort Women Minister Cho Kuk, who was on suspended sentence after being found guilty of embezzling donations for comfort women.
A total of 2,188 people were granted amnesty, including former head of a women's support group, Yoon Mi-hyang. This is the first amnesty granted under the Lee administration, which took office in June. Prior to this, Minister of Justice Jeong Seong-ho announced the amnesty on the 11th.
Regarding the amnesty, he said, "The focus was on providing an opportunity for national unity and revitalizing the economy. Through the first amnesty since the inauguration of the national sovereign government (the Lee Jae-myung administration), social conflicts will be resolved and national unity will be realized."
However, some members of the public, the opposition party, and city officials have expressed concern that Cho and Yoon, who once caused a great stir in the public but were only recently convicted, were included in the amnesty.
Since the founding of the country in 1948, pardons have been frequently held to coincide with national holidays such as Independence Movement Day (March 1st) and Liberation Day (August 15th).
In 2021, former President Park Geun-hye, who was serving a 22-year prison sentence for bribery and other crimes, was granted a New Year's pardon and released on December 31 of the same year.
In August 2022, under the previous administration of President Yoon Seok-yeol, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-Yeong, who was convicted of bribery and other offenses, was granted a special pardon to coincide with Liberation Day.
In December of the same year, former President Lee Myung-bak, who had been sentenced to 17 years in prison for bribery and other charges, was released.
President Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June, issued his first amnesty on the 15th of this month, granting 2,188 people involved in politics and the economy.
Of these, 27 people have held key public office, including former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and former National Assembly member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who is a member of the comfort women support group "Justice Memory for the Resolution of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery."
The inclusion of Yoon Mi-hyang, former head of the Korean Solidarity for Justice and Remembrance, drew particular attention. Cho was sentenced to two years in prison in December last year for fraudulently getting her child into a university.
He was appointed Minister of Justice by then-President Moon Jae-in in September 2019, but was forced to resign after just a month after allegations emerged that he had improperly admitted his child to university.
Various suspicions continued to be raised about Cho after that, and at the time, he was mocked by the public as the "Onion Man" because the suspicions continued even after he was investigated.
On the 15th, Cho was released from Seoul Southern Detention Center after 242 days, and said, "I am deeply grateful to President Lee Jae-myung for making this decision."
Cho is expected to return to his position as leader of the progressive opposition party he founded, the Fatherland Reform Party. Yoon Mi-hyang has donated to the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, a support group for comfort women.
He was charged with crimes including assaulting a woman and was sentenced to one year and six months in prison with a three-year suspended sentence in November last year, but was reinstated through this special pardon. Prior to the pardon, Yoon posted on social media about his guilty verdict.
Yoon has faced harsh criticism from the public, but said, "I feel so sorry for those who insult me. I will continue to do my best without wavering a single step."
Regarding this pardon, the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reported, "It is widely viewed as unusual for the first pardon issued by a president in office, as it includes many controversial politicians."
In particular, questions and criticism have been raised about the amnesty given to Cho and Yoon. Ahn Cho, a prominent lawmaker in the opposition People Power Party and a candidate for the party's leadership election,
Ahn Cheol-soo said, "How can we explain to young people and the future generations that we are pardoning Cho Kuk and Yoon Mi-hyang, who are not good enough to be pardoned?
"This is like proving that if he denies any wrongdoing, his crimes will be lighter," he said. A comfort women support group, which is suing Yoon and demanding the return of donations made to comfort women, released a statement on the 11th.
Former Rep. Yoon Mi-hyang was found guilty of embezzlement for making donations related to comfort women victims by the Supreme Court, but she has still not returned the donations and has refused to restore the situation to its original state.
He then criticized Yoon's pardon as "an act that tramples on the feelings of comfort women supporters and makes a mockery of them."
Meanwhile, the South Korean presidential office said on the 11th, "President Lee Jae-myung has responded to the demands of the times for national unity and is working to improve the lives of the people and the economy.
"I sympathize with this pardon proposal in order to give strength to those involved. I have given it careful consideration while listening to opinions from all walks of life."