SK chief pardoned
Politicians, Hanwha chairman excluded
By Kang Seung-woo
Chey Tae-won SK Group Chairman
President Park Geun-hye granted special pardons Thursday to 6,527 people, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, in the hope that his release from prison will help bolster the economy.
Chey is among 14 notable businesspeople who were pardoned ahead of the 70th anniversary of Liberation Day. Among others are Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Hyun-chung and Yeochun NCC CEO Hong Dong-wook.
Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, who was widely expected to be on the list, did not receive a pardon.
The SK chief had been serving a four-year jail term for embezzlement since January 2013.
Analysts say that Park exercised her rights in a “restrictive” manner based on her presidential pledge, while considering both negative public opinion toward pardons for convicted tycoons and demands from the business sector.
“I decided to grant special pardons in order to help forge national reconciliation and revitalize the economy, as well as boost people’s pride," Park said during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae.
Many of the beneficiaries are ordinary people who were fined or had their driving licenses cancelled for traffic violations, according to the Ministry of Justice. Convicted politicians and public officials were excluded from the list.
Last month, Park said she would make her second presidential pardon — the first was in January 2014 — to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, raising speculation that many jailed corporate titans would benefit from this.
Hanwha chief Kim was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years in 2014, after being found guilty of illegally diverting company money to pay debts of firms he ran under borrowed names.
“Although the special pardons were aimed at promoting national development and forging national cohesion, the government also considered winning a national consensus on the beneficiaries,” Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong told reporters.
“We excluded those linked to corruption and violent crimes, and business people to that end.”
Prof. Chung Goon-gi of Hongik University said, “Although it is a surprise that the Hanwha chairman was excluded, she seems to have considered negative public sentiment toward pardons for business leaders.”
A Gallup Korea survey late last month revealed that 54 percent of 1,003 respondents were opposed to giving pardons to business tycoons, compared with 35 percent approving.
“At the same time, the pardoning of 14 tycoons means Park accepted the demands from the business circle, in exchange for it to actively join the government’s moves to revive the economy.”
Last month, the leaders of the nation’s top 30 business groups issued a joint statement calling on the government to pardon executives behind bars, saying that their return to boardrooms would boost investment and contribute to the economy.
In response to the pardons, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) blamed Park for failing to keep a pledge she made during her presidential campaign.
“Park promised that she would severely restrict the use of a special pardon for convicted business leaders, but this one runs counter to her pledge,” Rep. Yoo Eun-hae, an NPAD spokeswoman, said in a briefing.
“In addition, the pardons include economic criminals convicted of embezzlement and breach of trust and thus are far from Park’s push for the normalization of abnormal practices.”