South Korea grants amnesty to former President Park Geun-hye News
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South Korea grants amnesty to former President Park Geun-hye

South Korea President Moon Jae-in Friday announced that former President Park Geun-hye would be granted a special pardon from a 20-year prison sentence for bribery and corruption-related charges.

Park, 69, is among 3,094 persons to be granted the special amnesty. South Korea’s Ministry of Justice has stated that the pardon is aimed at promoting “national unity” amidst challenges caused by COVID-19. Special consideration was given to Park’s deteriorating health. Park has also been hospitalized for chronic shoulder and back pain several times during her sentence and has undergone shoulder surgery.

In 2017, a constitutional court in Korea upheld her impeachment, making her the first democratically-elected Korean President to be forcibly removed from office. In 2018, she was sentenced to 25-years’ imprisonment by the Seoul High Court for conspiring with her close aide Choi Soon-sil to accept bribes from various South Korean conglomerates such as Samsung and Lotte. Following a retrial, the South Korean Supreme Court in 2021 finally upheld a reduced 20-year sentence imposed by a lower court. She has currently served four years and nine months of her sentence. She will be released on December 31.

Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, who was sentenced on bribery-related charges and has served her sentence, will be granted exoneration as part of the amnesty move. However, Park’s predecessor, former President Lee Myung-bak, who is serving a sentence for embezzlement and bribery, has not been pardoned.

Regarding the special amnesty, President Moon Jae-in said:

We must overcome the pain of the past and move forward into the new era. Now is the time to boldly join forces toward the future rather than quarrel with each other in the past… In the case of former President Park, I also took into account the fact that her health condition deteriorated significantly after serving close to five years in prison. I hope that this amnesty will go beyond differences of opinion and pros and cons, and serve as an opportunity for unity, harmony, and the beginning of a new era.

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