S. Korean president pardons jailed tycoon

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye handed down a full pardon Thursday to the head of the country’s third largest conglomerate who was serving his second jail term for multi-million dollar fraud.
SK Group chairman Chey Tae-Won was among 6,500 pardons announced by Park to mark the 70th anniversary on Saturday of the end of Japanese colonial rule over Korea.

The inclusion of Chey in the list sparked criticism of the president, who came to power promising to reform South Korea’s all-powerful, family run conglomerates, or “chaebols,” whose chief executives have often strayed onto the wrong side of the law.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Park said her choice had been motivated by a need to “revitalise the economy”.

Chaebols dominate the national economy and the freeing of imprisoned top executives to help stimulate growth has been a common theme of presidential amnesties over the years.
It was underlined this time around by Justice Minister Kim Hyun-Woong, who told reporters that releasing convicted business leaders gave them “the chance to contribute to the country’s economy again”.

Aside from Chey, a dozen other businessmen were freed by Park in what was her second amnesty list since taking office in 2013.

The main opposition party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy, denounced Chey’s release, saying it “runs counter to the election promise” Park made to get tough with chaebol owners.
The pardon will only “confuse people’s ideas about fairness”, a party spokeswoman said.
The pro-business Federation of Korean Industries, on the other hand, welcomed Park’s “brave decision” saying it would help unite the business community behind the government’s economic policies.

Chey, 54, has served 31 months out of his 48-month prison sentence for embezzling 46.5 billion won (US$43.6 million) from two SK Group affiliates and funnelling the funds into personal investments in stock futures and options in 2008.

It was not his first conviction. In 2003, Chey was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a $1.3 billion accounting fraud.

On that occasion, he was released after just seven months and, in 2008, granted a full presidential pardon, wiping his record clean.


An opinion poll by Korea Gallop last month showed 54 percent of Koreans were opposed to giving pardons to chaebol leaders.