[Actually] Was there a lot of 'toxic' special pardons at the beginning of the term?

President Yoon Seok-yeol issued a special pardon for 1,373 people.

Former President Lee Myung-bak's sentence was exempted from execution and his rights were restored.

Former Governor Kim Gyeong-soo was exempted from execution without a reinstatement.

The Ministry of Justice explained the reason why former President Lee and other politicians were included in the pardon, "It means to prepare an opportunity to restore the potential of the Republic of Korea, which has become one through pan-national integration, as the new government wraps up the first year of its inauguration."

'National unity' is a rhetoric that comes out every time you are pardoned.

As the 'first year of the Yoon Seok-yeol government' was emphasized in this amnesty, the need for national unity was always emphasized at the beginning of the term, and the political act of integration often appeared in the form of a 'special amnesty'.

If so, were there really a lot of special pardons in the early days of the government?

We analyzed all the amnesty data of previous governments to see if there were really more at the beginning of the term than at other times.

The SBS fact was confirmed by the team.

Enlarge Image

In fact, as a result of the team's total analysis, since the establishment of the Korean government, there have been a total of 105 special pardons, sentence commutations, and reinstatements, including this pardon.

Among these, the Yoon Seok-yeol government is currently in progress, so the specific details of the 103 pardons carried out by the Moon Jae-in government have been confirmed and summarized.

The part marked in red in the graphic below is the special pardon at the beginning of the term.

The standard for 'beginning of term' was set within one year after the inauguration of the government.

Enlarge Image

From the Rhee Syngman government to the Moon Jae-in government, 244,406 people received special pardons, 54,724 people received special sentence reductions, and 33,665 people received special lottery tickets.

A total of 332,795 people were counted.

Among them, cases that were carried out within the first year of power were isolated. Special pardons were given to 156,459 people, 64.0% of the total, special sentence commutations were 31,667 people, 57.9%, and special lottery tickets were 10,403 people, 30.1%. .

When calculated all together, it was 59.7%.

Enlarge Image

It was analyzed that previous administrations carried out about three-fifths of special pardons within the first year of power.

In particular, large-scale special pardons, sentence commutations, and lottery were concentrated at the beginning of the term of office for thousands to tens of thousands of people.

The claim that special pardons were particularly high at the beginning of the government's tenure can be seen as largely true.

Enlarge Image

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon announcing a special pardon.

Then, let's look at the cases in detail.

First, before democratization in 1987.

On August 15, 1956, during the Syngman Rhee administration, a special pardon was issued for 1,140 people.

It was a special pardon conducted right after former President Syngman Rhee took office as the 3rd president after the constitutional amendment symbolized by 'sasaeng'.

Next, at the time of Park Chung-hee, who took power through the 5.16 military coup, a special pardon for 13,000 people was granted on the first anniversary of 5.16.

Later, during the Park Chung-hee administration, on December 27, 1972, right after the establishment of the Yushin system, 1,203 special pardons and 5,017 special commutations were carried out with the inauguration of the 8th president.

During the Chun Doo-hwan administration, on March 3, 1981, there was a special pardon for 2,417 people.

It has been a week since he took office as the 12th president through a direct vote by the presidential electoral college, the so-called 'gymnasium election'.

The large-scale special amnesty above has in common that the presidents were inaugurated 'immediately' by non-democratic methods such as constitutional amendment for the third term, the Yushin Constitution, and indirect voting.

As the political legitimacy of the regime was inevitably weak, it is read as a means to shake off the political burden through a large-scale amnesty at the beginning of the term.

Enlarge Image

On July 17, 1948, Syngman Rhee, chairman of the Constituent Assembly, signed the founding law.

Even after democratization, large-scale pardons were concentrated at the beginning of the term.

In fact, the team calculated that, even after democratization, the proportion of special pardons within the first year of office reached 60% of the total.

Before and after democratization, the ratio was similar.

Similarly, after democratization, let’s look at specific examples of special pardons at the beginning of the term.

The Kim Young-sang and Kim Dae-jung administrations granted special pardons to tens of thousands of people at the beginning of their terms.

The nature of organizing the history of military power was strong.

The amnesty commemorating the inauguration of the Kim Young-sam government included Pastor Moon Ik-hwan, who was imprisoned for visiting North Korea.

In the early days of the Kim Dae-jung administration, there was a special pardon for the leaders of the 12.12 military coup, including democratization activists, Jang Se-dong, Jeong Ho-young, and Heo Hwa-pyeong.

Within a year of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments, the targets of special pardon were centered on livelihood offenders.

However, in the early days of the Lee Myung-bak administration, Hyundai Chung Mong-koo, SK Chey Tae-won, and Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-yeon were included.

Enlarge Image

Roh Tae-woo (left) and Chun Doo-hwan, two former presidents.

After democratization, the pardon for the former president was used as a strategic means of election, and there was also an aspect that led to the pardon at the beginning of the term.

In April 1997, when the execution of the sentences for two former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, were finalized, three presidential candidates at the time, Kim Dae-jung, Lee Hoi-chang, and Rhee In-je, put forward an amnesty for them as a presidential election pledge.

It was interpreted as a strategy to broaden the circle of support ahead of the presidential election.

The special pardons of the two former presidents, which were carried out immediately after the election of former President Kim Dae-jung, were made in the form of President Kim Young-sam accepting the proposal of then-elect Kim Dae-jung.

President Yoon Seok-yeol also promised a special pardon for former President Lee Myung-bak during his candidacy.

The cause of the amnesty was 'national integration' even at the time.

After a fierce presidential campaign, society is politically divided and suffers from aftereffects, and from the government's point of view, political action for 'integration' would have been necessary at the beginning of the term.

However, criticism continued to go against the purpose of national unity.

(Special amnesty) fundamentally violates the principle of the law, and it must be implemented as a 'minimum' because it can cause problems with equity before the law.

However, in Korean society, amnesty was often used as a means to achieve political goals rather than for an ideal purpose.

- Jung Il-young (2020).

Amnesty after State Violence, Journal of Korean History, Vol. 42, 76-110.

It has been pointed out that institutional supplementation of the presidential pardon power is needed.

Alternatives have emerged, such as that serious crimes such as serious economic crimes and civilian massacres should be limited to crimes subject to pardon, and that the amnesty review committee should be formed with the recommendation of the president, the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice.

However, still nothing has improved.

Former President Lee Myung-bak's special pardon is also controversial like a treadmill.

I hope that serious introspection and discussion will begin as to whether the special amnesty is really contributing to community integration, or whether it is the beginning of division.

SBS In fact, the team looked at whether there were more special pardons at the beginning of the government's term than at other times.

When comparing special pardons, sentence commutations, and lotteries conducted within the first year of power separately to the whole, they were 64.0%, 57.9%, and 30.1%, respectively, and when calculated together, it was 59.7%.

Previous administrations carried out about three-fifths of special pardons within the first year of power.

In response, the fact team judges some claims that "there were many special pardons at the beginning of the term" as 'mostly true'.

However, when looking at the history of the special pardon at the beginning of the term, it was found that there was an aspect that was used for political purposes by a regime or election candidates with weaker legitimacy than the cause of 'national unity'.

As it continues to point out the need for institutional supplementation to the presidential pardon, the team's judgment is that serious reflection and discussion must begin.