S. Korea to overhaul special pardon system

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to come up with measures to improve its special pardons by next month in a bid to ensure that they are granted in a more fair and transparent manner.

In South Korea, presidents usually grant special pardons in commemoration of major national holidays, though the practice has long been under fire for being abused to give favors to their friends and business leaders who have been jailed for corruption.

The government held a meeting earlier in the day to discuss how to overhaul the special pardon system, the first of its kind.

Government officials decided to draw up measures to enhance the system in a fair and transparent manner by June.

"There is growing need to enhance the special pardon system as public concerns are rising," said Choo Kyung-ho, policy coordinating minister at the Prime Minister's Office.

The hastily-arranged meeting came a day after President Park Geun-hye ordered measures to reform the system following a bribery scandal involving her key aides.

Park's comments came amid a controversy over two previous special pardons granted to a late businessman at the center of the bribery scandal.

Calls to reform the special pardon system have increased as Sung Wan-jong was found to have been granted special pardons twice during the liberal administration of late President Roh Moo-hyun. (Yonhap)