After the main conservative opposition party’s convincing victory in the recent mayoral by-elections, many key political figures are publicly calling former conservative presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye to be pardoned.
Yoo Seong-min, a former lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), was one of the first prominent politicians to suggest pardoning them. Although a conservative, Yoo was not part of the Park Geun-hye’ faction within the party. On April 8, a day after the election, Yoo said that “I think it is right for President Moon Jae-in to resolve the pardon issue as early as possible before his term ends without trying to worry about what his staunchest supporters would think.” He added that “I think it is good for both national dignity and unity among the people.”
Independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo, who previously led the main opposition party and ran against Moon Jae-in in the last presidential election, has recently been posting about pardon-related issues on his Facebook page. “Power is not eternal, but like a sandglass that becomes empty after time passes,” Hong wrote on April 16. “Power will sink into a deeper pit as one struggles to avoid becoming a lame duck. Please take it as providence and only focus on unifying people in your last moment. Please pardon the two former presidents, and it will be remembered as your karma.”
The next day, Hong posted the following on his Facebook page.
“In April 2003, the Roh Moo-hyun administration was investigating money illegally transferred to North Korea, but only arrested Park Jie-won and did not even investigate President Kim Dae-jung [DJ], who technically ordered the wire transfer. Moon Jae-in was secretary to the president for civil affairs at the time [under Roh], and he probably did so because he thought it was within the president’s authority or an act of governance.
The judicial precedent and common sense were that the president’s governance is not considered something that can come under judicial review, regardless of illegality. This is why DJ was neither investigated nor punished in the case of money transferred to North Korea. However, once Moon Jae-in became president he used the prosecution and mobilized public sentiment to arrest former President Park Geun-hye for what she did while ruling the country. Moon went further and used the prosecution to arrest former President Lee Myung-bak without any evidence.”
Park Jie-won, who is currently the head of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, was sentenced to three years in prison for helping the late President Kim Dae-jung arrange for Hyundai to send $450 million to North Korea. The court ruled that the payment was to facilitate the inter-Korean summit in 2000 with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Park served about eight months in prison before he was pardoned.
Hong Joon-pyo added: “this is why I am arguing that the two cases of the former presidents were political investigations and political trials.” His post continues as follows.
“President Moon Jae-in set a precedent that a president’s act of governance can be investigated and be an object for a judicial review. This will be a boomerang that will come back to whoever becomes the next president after Moon leaves. Moon himself will be unable to avoid a grave crime of the nuclear power plant corruption scandal, among various other acts. This is why I am asking him to engage in the politics of reconciliation and unity. Do not make a fool of yourself anymore and pardon the two former presidents. This will be desirable for the future.”
Hong did not specify which nuclear power plant corruption scandal he was referring to. One of the allegations the Moon administration faces is that the government was involved in manipulating the economic feasibility study to shut down the Wolsong power plant Unit 1 prematurely. The administration also faced criticism after it was found out that they reviewed ways to build a nuclear power plant in North Korea.
Lawmakers who are running for the PPP’s floor leadership post are also calling for the former presidents to be pardoned. “There was no case to put people behind bars for this long,” said Kim Tae-heum of the PPP. “This was not even the case for someone who staged a coup. A righteous and reasonable administration should have released them already. I will ask for them to be pardoned if I become the floor leader.”
Kim Ki-hyun, another lawmaker from the PPP who is running for the floor leader post argued that “the pardon is not something about an individual, but a problem of national dignity.” He added that “I think pardoning and restoring their rights should come about as early as possible.”
President Moon nominated Kim Boo-kyum, a former four-term lawmaker and interior minister, as the new prime minister last week. There is speculation among the media and in political circles that he will suggest pardoning the two former presidents to President Moon.
Kim is a politician from the Daegu and North Gyeongsang region. The region is a traditional stronghold of the conservative PPP. This is why some people believe that he will try to relay the public sentiment of the region to the president. In January, he showed that he is open to discussing a pardon. “I think that the public will understand [the pardon] if we show that politics is changing for the better, along with the president’s resolution,” he said. Kim has emphasized “unity” throughout his political career.
However, the latest polling shows that the public is not yet open to pardoning the two presidents. According to a study by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, 55.6 percent of the respondents said they were opposed to pardoning them. Among the respondents, 41.9 percent said they support pardoning the former presidents, while 2.5 percent said they are not sure.
