On January 29, 2013, the Lee Myung-bak administration's final list of special pardons was announced. The first chapter of the press release, distributed to journalists by the Justice Department, outlined the pardon principles and standards. Particularly in the last line, "President's main relatives, head of the conglomerate group, savings bank corruption criminals, civilian inspectors, anti-human gangsters such as sexual violence, murder, and robbery, fines, unpaid fines, and those under special cases are subject to pardon. Exclusion criteria. "

● Lee's Amnesty Principle "Because I'm not a lawyer ..."

However, as I read the list, an unexpected name caught my eye. At the time, Cho Hyun-joon, vice president of Hyosung (currently Hyosung Group Chairman), was included in the list of "Special Amnesty and Special Lottery." Cho Hyun-joon's father is the honorary chairman of Cho Suk-rae, the current Hyosung Group. (The nephew of the honorary chairman Cho Suk-rae married the daughter of President Lee Myung-bak.)

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As a member of the legal team at that time, I asked a spokesman for the Justice Department.

"In the first chapter of the press release, the president's relatives are excluded from the pardon, but Cho Hyun-jun's vice president is included in the pardon. Sadon is not a relative."

A spokesman for the Justice Department responded with a very difficult look.

"Mr. Cho is not strictly legal to be a relative, but she wrote that the press release excludes" major relatives "in consideration of national sentiment.


Since Cho Hyun-joon may be a relative of the president's in-laws, he may feel like a relative of the president, but since he is not the only civil law-related `` spouse of his kin, spouse of his mate, spouse of his mate '', It was explained that one did not violate the principle of exclusion. At the same time, the words "major" were put in front of relatives who were excluded.

● Moon Jae-in's pardon principle "It is not a corruption crime…"

On December 30, 2019, six years and 11 months later, the Moon Jae-in government also announced a special pardon. In this press release there is a noticeable passage on page 9.

According to the President's pledge to limit the pardon of serious corruption crimes, a few politicians who have maintained their strict pardon exclusion criteria and restricted their right to long-term civil affairs, including political crime law violations, are not corrupt corruption criminals. 2 Lottery Tickets "

Former lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae, a former politician of the participatory government, and former lawmaker Gong Sung-jin, who was regarded as a "parent-side" politician at the time of the Lee Myung-bak administration, pardoned them because they did not commit "corruption crimes." Attorney General Kim O-soo, who was briefed at the briefing, did not hesitate to agree with the self-confidence that pardoning Lee Kwang-jae and Gong Sung-jin was "to fend off old politics and create a new political culture."


A reporter asked the Attorney General's Attorney General Lee Seong-yun, who was following the briefing.

"Lee Kwang-jae received a large amount of US dollars from a corrupt sponsor, and Mr. Kong Seong-jin was found guilty of receiving business from his wife's driver's salary, and I would like to ask the government if this means that this is not corruption."

Prosecutor General Lee Sung-yun said, "They knew that those who had been restricted for a long time and had been tried at the same time were pardoned or denied qualification. (This time, I am pardoned." The crime is bribery, egg supply, egg foreclosure, embezzlement and defamation. (I know that the two people are guilty of violating the Political Funds Act.)

Lee Kwang-jae and Gong Sung-jin may feel as if they had committed "corruption crimes" because they received huge amounts of unjust money from entrepreneurs in the age of a prosperous regime, but the two crimes are not included in the five corruption crimes prescribed by the Moon Jae-in government. For this reason, it was explained that the reinstatement of Lee Kwang-jae and Kong Sung-jin did not violate the principle of exclusion of five major corruption offenses.

But one key official who was briefing at the Blue House said, "Is Mr. Lee Kwang-Jae received nearly $ 100,000. Isn't this corruption based on the Blue House?" It's not that much, but it's very small. ”He tried to justify the pardon, and corrected the statement saying that he had misidentified the amount and confirmed that he had received US $ 95,000 after the briefing. I owed it.

● Lee Myung-bak's "relatives" and Moon Jae-in's "corruption"

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with the Lee Myung-bak administration's pardon press release and Moon Jae-in's pardon press release. Cho Hyun-jun is not a civil law-in-law of former President Lee Myung-bak, and the act of receiving unjust money from a businessman (not proven cost) by the government is not a bribe or al player. It is true that it is a violation of the Political Funds Act, which does not constitute a prosecution, arrest, embezzlement, or assignment.

But how many people would have understood that when President Lee Myung-bak declared, "I will not pardon relatives of the president," it means that I can pardon the eldest son of the Sadon family, not actually a "lawful relative." When President Moon Jae-in announced that he would not pardon the five major corruption offenders, he said that it meant that a politician could actually pardon if he received unjustified money that had not been proven to be costly. Was there?

It's as if you didn't tell the consumer that "You can use unlimited data for $ 100 a month" when your carrier advertises and provides unlimited data, but after 1GB you're using it, the speed drops dramatically and makes it very inconvenient. The news agency will insist that it hasn't lied, but few consumers will accept it if they're not deceived. People feel comparable to the amnesty of the Lee Myung-bak administration's "relatives" and the Moon Jae-in government's "corruption crimes."

● Amnesty Lee, who had been filtering himself two years ago

In addition, the Moon Jae-in administration told the former parliamentary officer Lee Kwang-jae at a special pardon in December 2017, so the explanation becomes more demanding. At the time, the list did not include former lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae, but when reporters asked about the reason, a key official of the Blue House said, "(The crime of former lawmaker Lee Kwang-jae is not a category of five major corruption crimes. Excluded from ". Until at least two years ago, even the government of Moon Jae-in himself thought that it would be unfair to say 'I will pardon because it is not a corruption crime' because the guilt of illegally paid politicians does not fall under the category of corruption that they arbitrarily define.

To be fair, of course, it is true that President Moon Jae-in's special pardon was qualitatively better than that of former President Lee Myung-bak in January 2013. In 2013, former President Lee Myung-bak pardoned his aides, including Shin Il-il and Choi Si-joong, who were found guilty of al-Raw or bribery during his presidency, violating his principle of `` I will not pardon the corruption while in office. '' is. President Moon Jae-in pardoned Kwak No-hyun and Lee Kwang-jae, who were close to him, but did not break the principle with President Lee Myung-bak in 2013.

● Zephyr weed and sophistication for slopes

However, the words 'Sad is not a civil law incest; I will pardon the people of the house of money,' or 'If the politician receives unjust money unproven by the sponsor, it will not be a serious corruption crime we stipulate.' There seems to be no difference. In the passage stated in the press release that a politician's act of receiving unjust money from a entrepreneur that does not fall within the categories they stipulate is "not a crime of corruption." Rises up to.

Amnesty is the power of the President as guaranteed by the Constitution. There are many criticisms that amnesty itself does not fit the rule of law, but it is difficult to condemn the exercise of the powers guaranteed by the Constitution. However, it would be unacceptable to punish sophistication to try to circumvent the principles they had before they became president. As long as the Lee Myung-bak administration pardoned the President's pardon six years ago and undermined the principles he had laid down, the Moon Jae-in administration's sophistication for pardon will be remembered for a long time.