Gov't weighing tycoons pardon list
Posted : 2015-08-10 16:54
Nearly two millions of convicted criminals, including several jailed tycoons,
are expected to get pardoned to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korea's
independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, which falls on
Saturday.
The Ministry of Justice drew up a list of names
eligible for pardon and forwarded it to President Park Geun-hye,
Monday.
Park will discuss the issue during a Cabinet meeting
Thursday and, if nothing controversial is found, will give her
approval.
Min Kyung-wook, a presidential spokesman, has
declined to confirm whether the President will grant pardons to convicted
business leaders, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hanwha Group
Chairman Kim Seung-youn. Yet many suggest that they are very likely to get
pardoned, in exchange for their companies making hefty investments and offering
employment opportunities, which would help lift Korea out of its protracted
slump.
SK, Hanwha and other family-controlled conglomerates,
or chaebol, that seek pardoning of their convicted chiefs have curried favor
with the President by supporting to her economic policies, particularly the pet
project called the "creative economy."
Their peers have
openly begged for Park's mercy, claiming pardoning of convicted tycoons will
contribute to revitalizing the nation's sagging economy.
Unwanted
twists
Things appeared to have unfolded smoothly. Yet a string
of recent unsavory scandals, involving wayward tycoons and their family members,
have turned the situation around, reigniting anti-chaebol sentiment and forcing
the President to reconsider pardoning convicted
businessmen.
However, some experts believe the scandals were
not ugly enough for Park to withdraw her decision on pardoning the tycoons. She
has committed herself to rejuvenating the economy at any cost, they
explained.
Ironically, at the core of the latest scandal fueling the
anti-chaebol sentiment was SK Chairman Chey himself.
Last week, claims
were raised that he had received special treatment behind bars with the
connivance of prison officers, including frequent uses of an in-house meeting
room for hours with his lawyers for dubious purposes. SK flatly denied the
allegations, while the justice ministry refused to confirm
this.
Chey was given a four-year prison term for embezzling
46.5 billion won ($43.6 million) from two SK Group affiliates and funneling the
funds into personal investments in stock futures and options in
2008.
The ongoing succession feud between the Lotte Group
founder's two son is another element fueling the anti-chaebol
sentiment.
Earlier, Heather Cho, the central figure of the
"nut rage" case, stirred up the sentiment with allegations that she had hired a
broker to make her jail life easier.
The broker ― a
51-year-old man surnamed Yeom ― was detained for allegedly making arrangements
for Cho to get "benefits" while she was in jail for three months out of a
one-year jail term imposed for abusing flight crew. The benefits included time
for her to exercise alone, away from other inmates.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2015/08/123_184545.html
[Editorial] No leniency
Published : 2015-08-09 18:24
Drunk drivers should be excluded from special pardons
President Park Geun-hye is expected to convene a Cabinet meeting Thursday to finalize the scope of the special pardons to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonial rule. A committee under the Justice Ministry is to draw up a preliminary list of people to be granted the presidential pardon during its meeting Monday.
Park has said this year’s Aug. 15 Liberation Day should serve as an occasion for the nation to be proud of what it has accomplished over the past decades and prepare for another leap forward. To highlight the meaning of the anniversary, government officials suggest, the planned pardon is likely to be given to more than 2 million people.
The massive number of beneficiaries does not fit well with Park’s criticism of her predecessors for abusing presidential authority to grant pardons for cheap political gains. The first pardon under her presidency, conducted in January 2014, was given to just 5,925 people.
It may be understandable that her administration is easing its principled stance on granting amnesties to fit the festive mood of the landmark anniversary. The public may largely agree to provide convicted businessmen with opportunities to make up for their wrongdoings by devoting themselves again to increasing the competitiveness of their businesses and thus contributing to reinvigorating the economy.
But it would be wrong to grant amnesty to those who have had their driving licenses revoked or suspended for violating traffic laws, especially drunk drivers.
Government officials say only those who have been caught drunk driving for the first time would be subject to the special pardon. But drunk driving is an act that should never be treated with leniency under any circumstance.
What should be noted is the statistics showing that road accident rates have increased substantially in the period following previous pardons for traffic law violators.
The rate rose by 6.5 percent in 1996, 15 percent in 1999 and 4.2 percent in 2003 from the previous years when offenders of road rules were pardoned. In contrast, the rate was down by 10 percent and 11 percent in 2000 and 2001, respectively, when no amnesty was granted in the preceding years.
These figures explicitly show that the pardons have more than offset the gains in traffic safety from the removal of reckless drivers from the road. More sarcastically speaking, past presidential pardons have been successful at putting dangerous drivers back on the roads.
More serious consideration should be given to social and economic costs incurred by drunk drivers and other traffic offenders. The traffic fatality rate in Korea has remained at the highest level among major advanced industrialized countries.
Special pardon may be necessary in some cases to balance the rigid enforcement of legal justice with actual conditions in everyday life. But granting pardons to drunk drivers and habitual traffic offenders should not be considered.
President Park vowed to build a safer society in the wake of the tragic ferry sinking last year, which claimed more than 300 lives. Damaging the safety effect of the traffic law does not serve this effort. Park should not step back from her adherence to principles to grant amnesty to reckless drivers at the risk of endangering other citizens’ lives.
Furthermore, this senseless pardon would contradict the spirit Koreans should strengthen on the occasion of the 70th Liberation Day to go beyond what they have achieved so far and build a country that commands respect from people around the world.
http://khnews.kheraldm.com/view.php?ud=20150809000372&md=20150810003043_BL