After 5 years in jail, S. Korea pardons former President Park Geun-hye

 

SEOUL, South Korea: Former President Park Guen-hye will be granted a special pardon by the South Korean government, after serving five years in prison following her conviction on corruption charges.

In a statement, the Justice Ministry said, "From the perspective of national reconciliation, former President Park Geun-hye, who is serving a long-term prison sentence, will be granted a special pardon."

Since March 2017, Park had served almost five years of a 22-year prison sentence followed her being convicted on corruption charges.

According to South Korea's presidential office, President Moon Jae-in said, "In the case of former President Park, her deteriorating health condition after serving nearly five years was considered."

The presidential office added that the pardon aims to overcome the pain of the past and move on to a new era, while asking for understanding from those who disagree with it.

Moon's decision to release the 69-year-old former president was greeted with mixed reactions.

"I see it as an appropriate amnesty, in terms of national unity," Shin Beom-chul, director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, as reported by ABC News.

Along with Park, 3,094 people will be released from prison on 31st December as part of Moon's special pardon.

Park was South Korea's first female president and became the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office in 2017 when the Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach her over a corruption scandal that also caused the imprisonment of two industry heads.