Yoon restores ex-governor's political rights, pardons Park's aides

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday officially restored the rights to hold public office for former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, who had served in jail until late 2022 for illegally conspiring to manipulate online opinions in favor of former President Moon Jae-in ahead of the 2017 presidential election.

The reinstatement of Kim's political rights came as part of Yoon's decision to grant special pardons for a total of 1,219 convicts on the occasion of Liberation Day which falls on Aug. 15. An earlier and separate pardon granted for Kim in late 2022 had him released from prison five months early after being sentenced to two years by the Supreme Court in 2021, yet fell short of restoring his rights to hold and run from office until December 2027.

The latest pardon will legally allow the former governor to run in the next presidential election scheduled for March 2027.

Several key members of Yoon's People Power Party who continued to voice disagreements with the president's plans to reinstate Kim's rights in recent days, either indirectly expressed disappointment or tread cautiously over Tuesday's announcement.

The People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon told reporters around noon that "there are many who find it difficult to agree with the reinstatement of Kim Kyoung-soo," after attending a private luncheon with some party lawmakers. But he added that he will "speak no more as it has already been decided."

Floor leader of the ruling party, Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, stressed that Yoon's latest decision must be "respected" as the Constitution grants the president the inherent right and authority to grant special pardons, at a morning debate organized by Kwanhun Club, a group of senior journalists, held in central Seoul.

However, Choo said that he has expressed concerns to the presidential office that Kim has yet to show any signs of remorse or regret over his actions which could be seen as a move "that could destroy the spirit of democracy through public opinion-rigging."

Tuesday's pardon list included a total of 55 convicted bureaucrats, government officials and politicians who had served under the previous administrations, including Kim Kyoung-soo. Other names on the list are: Cho Yoon-sun, former minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Ahn Jong-beom, former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination; Hyun Ki-hwan, an ex-senior presidential secretary for former President Park and Won Sei-hoon, former director of the National Intelligence Service.

Cho, convicted for her involvement in the Park Geun-hye administration's blacklisting of over 9,000 cultural figures that excluded them from state support, has completed her 14-month jail term. But she had been subject to restrictions or suspensions due to the criminal punishment, prior to presidential amnesty.

Won, who worked for the Lee Myung-bak administration, was sentenced to nine years in prison in November 2021 for misappropriating funds from NIS coffers for illegal political activities.

Ahn was convicted for abuse of power as a key figure in a mass corruption scandal surrounding former President Park, while Hyun, also a former aide of Park, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for receiving bribery from a real estate mogul in return for a favor.

The Supreme Court in 2021 found Kim Kyoung-soo guilty of online opinion rigging and conspiring with a political blogger named Kim Dong-won, better known by his internet alias Druking, to post and increase "likes" of online comments using automated software to Moon's benefit in the months leading up to the 2017 presidential election.

While upholding the district court’s conviction for the online opinion rigging scheme, however, the top court overturned Kim’s election law violation conviction.

Prosecutors claimed Kim Kyoung-soo violated election law by promising the blogger Druking a diplomatic post in Japan after the 2017 presidential election in return for his illicit work.

Tuesday's pardon was endorsed by Yoon after it was recommended by a justice ministry panel last week and approved during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. Special pardons, which are among the president's inherent powers, have often been granted to convicted politicians, business executives and other offenders at the start of a new year or around Liberation Day. Yoon was exercising clemency for the fifth time since his inauguration in May 2022.