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South Korea’s Disgraced Former President Park Geun-hye Is Pardoned

South Korea’s Disgraced Former President Park Geun-hye Is Pardoned

SEOUL—South Korean President Moon Jae-in pardoned former President Park Geun-hye, in a surprise decision that will set her free after serving less than a quarter of her 22-year prison sentence for bribery and corruption.

Mr. Moon said on Friday that he decided to release the 69-year-old Ms. Park, who has been serving her prison term since March 2017, because of her poor health and in an effort to unite the country amid the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I hope this pardon goes beyond the differences in opinions and serves as an opportunity for unity, harmony and the beginning of a new era. I ask for wide understanding from those who are opposed to the pardon,” Mr. Moon said.

Supporters and politicians of the conservative opposition party had called for Ms. Park’s pardon ahead of the presidential election in March 2022, but Mr. Moon hadn’t signaled any intention to do so. Ruling party lawmakers had previously said the two imprisoned former presidents—Ms. Park and her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak—were unlikely to be granted any kind of amnesty. Mr. Lee, who is also imprisoned on corruption charges, wasn’t pardoned.

Ms. Park, who received shoulder surgery in 2019, has been hospitalized three times this year due to chronic shoulder and lower back pain. She was hospitalized most recently in November. Her lawyer, Yoo Young-ha, visited her at the hospital on Friday and later said she thanked Mr. Moon for her pardon.

The scandal that led to Ms. Park’s prison sentence rocked the country in 2016, four years after she became South Korea’s first female president. Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled central Seoul in weekly rallies, demanding that she be removed from office for corruption and incompetence after a television network reported that Ms. Park had given a friend, Choi Soon-sil, confidential government documents, including briefings on policy toward North Korea.

Ms. Park made televised apologies and promised to sever ties with Ms. Choi, but the scandal led to a far-reaching corruption investigation. She was eventually impeached and removed from office. The investigation revealed ties between conglomerates and politicians in South Korea, with Ms. Park and Ms. Choi accused of taking bribes from big businesses, including Samsung Electronics Co. , in exchange for preferential treatment.

She was eventually convicted on 16 different charges, including bribery and coercion. The scandal led to more than 30 indictments of high-profile government and business figures, including Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s de facto leader.

The courts ruled that Samsung had offered bribes to Ms. Park and her friend to gain support for Mr. Lee, who was trying to inherit control of the company from his father. Mr. Lee was charged with bribing Ms. Park in exchange for government backing of a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that helped cement his ownership of the conglomerate.

Mr. Lee was released on parole in August. His supporters have called on the government to grant him a presidential pardon that would wipe the months left on his sentence and lift related restrictions such as a five-year employment ban. He has accepted the bribery charges and apologized for any public concern they caused.

Ms. Park apologized for allowing Ms. Choi to meddle in government affairs but maintained throughout that she was innocent of bribery, saying she had never accepted the money. She said the charges against her were fabricated by rivals as political revenge. She is expected to be freed on New Year’s Eve. Ms. Choi, who has denied all wrongdoing, is still serving an 18-year prison sentence for bribery and corruption.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the presidential office in Seoul on Monday.

Photo: yonhap/Shutterstock

The sentence given to Ms. Park, who was the daughter of South Korea’s longest-serving dictator, Park Chung-hee, was the heaviest the courts have meted out to any figure involved in the corruption scandal. She was the third South Korean president to be convicted of corruption after leaving office.

The public backlash against Ms. Park helped propel the left-leaning Mr. Moon into power. Mr. Moon is restricted to a single five-year term under the South Korean constitution.

Lee Jae-myung, who is the presidential candidate for Mr. Moon’s Democratic Party, had opposed Ms. Park’s early release, saying she hadn’t been apologetic for the crimes she committed. Some Democratic Party lawmakers criticized the decision to release Ms. Park, citing the public backlash over the decision and her lack of an apology for the corruption scandal. A Friday petition to the presidential Blue House opposing Ms. Park’s pardon gained more than 10,000 signatures within hours.

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate for the conservative opposition People Power Party, had said he would consider pardoning both Ms. Park and her predecessor if he were elected.

In addition to her health, the current administration likely considered appealing to voters who still support the former president, said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at South Korea’s Myongji University.

“It’s an attempt for positive messaging ahead of the elections,” Mr. Shin said.

—Jiyoung Sohn contributed to this article.

Write to Dasl Yoon at [email protected]

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Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-koreas-disgraced-former-president-park-geun-hye-is-pardoned-11640340531