Meeting with new ruling party leaders Thursday, President Park Geun-hye said she will consider their proposal of including business leaders in the Aug. 15 special pardons.
Several of Korea’s biggest business tycoons have been convicted and could receive special pardons, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his younger brother and the group's vice chairman, Chey Jae-won, CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun and Koo Bon-sang, vice chairman of LIG Nex1.
The President agreed with party leaders to hold meetings between Cheong Wa Dae, the ruling party and the government.
Park met party chairman Kim Moo-sung, Won Yoo-chul, the newly elected floor leader, and Kim Jung-hoon, the new chief policymaker at Cheong Wa Dae, in a signal of a new direction for the relationship between the President and the ruling party.
Won replaces former majority whip Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who the President publicly castigated over the passage of a controversial bill at the National Assembly.