President Lee Jae-myung on August 11 granted a Liberation Day special pardon and reinstatement to 2,188 people, including Cho Kuk, former leader of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, and his wife, former lawmakers Choi Kang-wook and Yoon Mee-hyang, and former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon. While the government cited national unity and people’s livelihoods as its reasons, critics accused the president of abusing his pardon power by granting a sweeping political amnesty just two months into his term.

That day, President Lee convened an ad-hoc Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan and finalized the list of those to receive the Liberation Day special amnesty.

Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho, speaking at a briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul after the Cabinet meeting, said, “The government will grant broad special pardons and reinstatements to 2,188 people, including business leaders, politicians from both ruling and opposition parties, labor figures, farmers, and those convicted of livelihood-related crimes.” The special pardons will take effect on August 15, Liberation Day, and will be accompanied by special relief measures for 834,499 people facing administrative penalties such as driver’s license suspensions or restrictions on operating food and beverage businesses.

The list of those pardoned and reinstated includes 27 political figures and former senior officials, among them Cho Kuk, who will be exempt from serving his remaining sentence, former presidential senior secretary for civil affairs Baek Won-woo, and former lawmakers Hong Moon-jong, Jeong Chan-min, and Ha Young-je, as well as 16 business leaders, including former SK Networks Chairman Choi Shin-won.

The political pardons appeared to be balanced between ruling and opposition camps. On the ruling-party-leaning side, figures such as former lawmakers Yoon Mee-hyang and Choi Kang-wook, former Justice Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu, and former Seoul education chief Cho Hee-yeon were reinstated, as was Cho Kuk’s wife, former Dongyang University professor Jeong Kyung-shim.

Also reinstated were former Environment Minister Kim Eun-kyung, Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Youn Kun-young, and former Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi from the Moon Jae-in administration.

On the conservative side, pardons went to former lawmakers Shim Hak-bong and Song Kwang-ho, former Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo, and former National Pension Service chief investment officer Hong Wan-sun, who served under the Park Geun-hye government.

At the briefing, Justice Minister Jeong said the pardons were carried out “to end the politics of division and antagonism, and as part of a grand national reconciliation.” He added, “To meet the demands of the times for national unity and to help Korea leap beyond the severe divisions and conflicts in our society, we granted large-scale pardons to major public figures and politicians from both sides of the aisle.”

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung said in a separate briefing, “President Lee agreed with the Justice Ministry’s pardon plan, which aims to meet the era’s call for national unity and to breathe warmth into the economy.” She described the core intent of the special pardons as “a livelihood-focused measure to ease heightened social tensions caused by former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration and to revive the stagnant economy.”

The most notable figure in Lee’s first special amnesty is Cho Kuk. Until last month, public opinion was evenly split over whether Cho should be pardoned, and many doubted he would make the list. However, Lee included Cho and his wife along with many pro-Moon Jae-in politicians who had faced prosecutorial investigations under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Observers inside and outside the presidential office say Lee calculated that, given the strong consensus for prosecutorial reform among his political base, it would be better to take the political risk early in his term.

If Cho had been excluded from this Liberation Day pardon, the Rebuilding Korea Party, which is considered part of the broader pro-government bloc, was expected to mount strong resistance. Some analysts say Lee chose to secure broad unity within the ruling coalition rather than risk isolation for both the DPK and the administration. The Rebuilding Korea Party did not field any district candidates in the general election in April last year, nor did it run a presidential candidate in June this year.

Still, it appears difficult for the administration to avoid criticism for abusing the president’s pardon power or undermining judicial justice. Cho has not yet served half his sentence, the practical threshold for parole eligibility. More importantly, the words Lee used as DPK leader to criticize then-President Yoon Suk-yeol’s special pardons could be turned back on him. In December 2022, criticizing the pardon of former President Lee Myung-bak, Lee said, “Special pardons that undermine national unity must be completely withdrawn” and that “the biggest problem is using opposition figures as props or shields to free serious criminals.” By that standard, the pardons and reinstatements of former opposition lawmakers on this year’s list could also be labeled “props” and “shields.”

Reactions from the political parties were sharply divided. DPK spokesperson Park Soo-hyun said, “It appears the president made the decision with deep deliberation, considering both the public’s expectations and the demands of the times. As the government tasked with ending a state of insurrection, we sought to restore the lives and honor of victims who suffered under the lawless prosecutorial dictatorship.” Acting Rebuilding Korea Party leader Kim Sun-min said, “This was possible because the Revolution of Light brought a change of government and launched the Lee Jae-myung administration. We hope this will be an opportunity for consolation and unity for Korea, which the regime of insurrection tried to destroy.”

By contrast, opposition People Power Party interim leader and floor leader Song Eon-seog told reporters, “This is the execution of the pardon power as a reward for changing the government. By ignoring opposition from the public and the opposition party, this Liberation Day special pardons, carried out with arrogance and self-righteousness, will go down in history as a dark chapter in the abuse of presidential clemency powers.”