Tycoons unlikely to get parole

The Ministry of Justice is not likely to include imprisoned business leaders on its list of recommendations for conditional release, while some conglomerate lobbies and the ruling Saenuri Party have raised the necessity of granting them parole.

Since the second half of last year, conservative politicians and the business sector have continued to argue that parole for the jailed group owners is urgent for invigorating the sagging economy.

According to Justice Ministry officials on Tuesday, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won has been excluded from the list of prisoners to be placed under the state-led screening process for parole, slated to be submitted next week.

Other major tycoons, such as SK Group vice chairman Chey Jae-won and LIG Nex1 vice chairman Koo Bon-sang, are also not likely to see state mercy this month, said the officials.

Under the administrative law on parole, the justice minister can free some prisoners once they complete one-third of their sentence and if their behavior in prison is graded as exemplary.

Chey Tae-won has spent around 700 days behind bars since he was indicted for pocketing company funds in January 2013. His four-year term was confirmed at the top court in February 2014.

The SK chief’s brother Chey Jae-won, who also completed one-third of his term, was given three years and six months for similar charges.

LIG Nex1’s Koo has been in prison for more than 800 days after he was indicted for issuing fraudulent commercial paper. His jail term is four years.

President Park Geun-hye on Monday reiterated the fairness in the coming selection of the Justice Ministry. “It is not appropriate for business leaders to be granted any favors. (On the contrary), it is also not appropriate to inflict reverse discrimination on them,” she said in her New Year’s press conference.

When the ministry finally excluded the three business tycoons from the roll, they are to pin hopes on the next conditional release, which will be on the March 1 Independence Movement Memorial Day.

Over the past few decades, many imprisoned conglomerate CEOs and senior executives enjoyed special pardons by previous presidents as well as the justice minister-led parole.

The 2009 pardon for Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee is believed to have resulted in Korea’s winning bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, while Hyundai Motor chief Chung Mong-koo, pardoned in 2008, served as the honorary chairman of the 2012 Yeosu Expo organizing committee.

Meanwhile, the civic group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy recently said in a statement that “forgiving someone because he is expected to make money will damage social justice.”

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)