{"id":2198297,"date":"2022-08-17T16:04:10","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T07:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/pro\/?p=2198297"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:44","slug":"yoon-chases-public-opinion-as-he-pardons-samsung-prince-but-not-an-ex-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/08\/yoon-chases-public-opinion-as-he-pardons-samsung-prince-but-not-an-ex-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoon chases public opinion as he pardons Samsung prince, but not an ex-president"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea celebrated the anniversary of its liberation from Japanese rule on Monday, and President Yoon Suk-yeol used the holiday to announce pardons for convicted criminals \u2014 most notably de facto Samsung group head Lee Jae-yong.<\/span><\/p>\n This practice of pardoning both well-known and common criminals is a well-established part of the South Korean political scene. Park Chung-hee used prisoner releases to deflect criticism of human rights activists at home and abroad in the 1970s. And since democratization in 1987, both <\/span>progressive<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>conservative<\/span><\/a> presidents have freed high-profile business leaders and politicians, while granting amnesty to <\/span>thousands of average citizens<\/span><\/a> for offenses as minor as traffic tickets.<\/span><\/p>\n Yoon\u2019s pardon of the Samsung vice chairman is in line with <\/span>this precedent<\/span><\/a>, and it appears aimed at winning Lee\u2019s support for his economic policies and boosting the president\u2019s dangerously low approval ratings.<\/span><\/p>\n But just as important from a political point of view was the fact that the Yoon administration did not use his constitutional power to issue special pardons without legislative approval to free imprisoned former President Lee Myung-bak and other political figures, a decision that shines a light on Yoon\u2019s particular sensitivity to public opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n