Cheong Wa Dae avoids responsibility over special pardon

Jul 08, 2021, 09:21 am

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

Cheong Wa Dae is evading responsibility for issuing a special amnesty for a fake fishery businessman, igniting criticism. After being released by special pardon, the businessman surnamed Kim lobbied several high-ranking officials and influential politicians. Such case developed into a ‘big gate’ and eventually led to the resignation of special prosecutor Park Young-soo. However, Cheong Wa Dae is avoiding responsibility over the special pardon, claiming that it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice.

As explained by the Blue House, preparing a specific list for special amnesty is under the jurisdiction of the justice ministry. However, many point out that Cheong Wa Dae should not avoid responsibility since issuing a special pardon is a ruling act by the president.

Park Soo-hyun, senior secretary for public communication, appeared in an MBC radio program on Wednesday and said that Cheong Wa Dae can set the range of amnesty targets, but it cannot make a list for amnesty. “I don’t understand why people are asking it to the Blue House,” he said.

However, such position of the Blue House is criticized not only in the political circles, but also in the legal community as they are trying to shift the responsibility to others.

“Not only the special amnesty, but also the general legal administration is coordinated by the senior civil affairs office, which assists the president,” said political critic Ko Sung-kook. “In the case of special amnesty, the civil affairs office is involved from first to last. This is because it is the president’s ‘ruling act,’” he said.

“The Ministry of Justice only sorts the list, and the guidelines come from the president,” Ko said. “The president would not change the list submitted to him, however it’s not appropriate for the Blue House to respond in such a way that it was not aware of the issue,” he said.

“Since the special pardon issue is sensitive, it would have been difficult for the Blue House to reveal that it was directly involved,” said a lawyer, who served as a high-ranking official at the justice ministry. “The Criminal Planning Division of the Ministry of Justice reviews a part of it, but issuing a special pardon is the president’s ruling act,” the lawyer said.

The opposition bloc suspects that a high-ranking official or influential politician may have been involved in rescuing Kim, noting that Kim received a special pardon even though he did not recover the damage caused by committing a fraud.

“The Ministry of Justice does not put a swindler who has caused such a great deal of damage on a list for special pardon,” said Kim Jae-won, a People Power Party (PPP) Supreme Council member. “This means someone must have intervened in the process,” he said. PPP lawmaker Kwon Sun-dong also pointed out that there are doubts about Kim’s pardon, saying, “In the case of property crimes such as fraud or embezzlement, it is customary to exclude someone of amnesty if the amount of damage is not paid off.”

In relation to this, an official from the justice ministry said in a phone interview with AsiaToday, “The standard for pardon is not disclosed, but we have determined that there are no procedural problems.”

#special pardon #Cheong Wa Dae