President Park Geun-hye on Monday hinted at granting special pardons next month on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japan’s colonial rule. She cited the country’s development and national unity as reasons for her proposed clemency, and this was taken as indicating that she intends to release imprisoned business tycoons and political bigwigs.
Park’s remarks came as a surprise, given that she has refrained from using her amnesty authority. In fact, the nation’s first female head of state has granted clemency once so far, only pardoning 5,900 inmates convicted of minor crimes in January of last year.
Park’s shift in position over pardons seems related to our woeful economic situation _ there is no other way but to jack up the anemic economy by encouraging family-run conglomerates to invest more actively. It’s undeniable that the Korean economy may be teetering on the brink amid sluggish exports and domestic consumption in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, Greece’s debt crisis and China’s stock market rout.
Against this backdrop, several jailed tycoons have been named as those who could benefit from presidential pardons. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has been imprisoned for two and a half years for embezzlement, and his younger brother, SK Group Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, is also serving a prison term. CJ Chairman Lee Jae-hyun is awaiting a Supreme Court trial after being released from detention due to his deteriorating health. Also, there is the possibility that some politicians will be among those released under the name of national reconciliation.
But Park’s sudden change in position could arouse controversy over her flip-flopping. She promised to exercise the amnesty right in an extremely restrictive manner during her 2012 presidential campaign. In January 2013, when she was the president-elect, Park also lashed out at the then Lee Myung-bak administration’s clemency, saying the amnesty system was abused to give favors to tycoons and politicians convicted of corruption.
Last week, the Federation of Korean Industries and the presidents of the country’s 30 largest conglomerates issued a joint statement urging the President to grant special pardons to convicted businessmen to help overcome the looming economic plight.
Of course, there is no need to let tycoons suffer reverse discrimination. It will be good to provide entrepreneurs who have been fully repentant and paid the price enough with another chance to make contribution to the national development if it helps revitalize the economy.
But if the past is any guide, it’s true that strong doubts linger concerning the positive economic effect of presidential pardons. Rather, abusing the presidential authority could deepen the public’s distrust of our justice system amid the deep-seated suspicion that those with money and connections can easily avoid punishment.
President Park needs to be fully aware that a large number of people believe that pardoning businessmen has been carried out without law and principles partly because it has required no parliamentary approval. That’s why the government should clearly establish the criteria for special pardons before making a list of candidates so that questions won’t arise later.