The beneficiaries included SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – President Park Geun-hye granted special pardons Thursday to high-profile businessmen and more than 6,500 others ahead of Liberation Day.
“I decided to grant special pardons in order to help forge national reconciliation and revitalize the economy as well as to boost people’s spirits,” Park said in a Cabinet meeting.
The beneficiaries included SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, but Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon was excluded, Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong said.
The pardons are part of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
Liberation Day, which falls on Aug. 15, is one of the major holidays in South Korea. Presidents usually grant special pardons in commemoration of major national holidays.
Park’s pardons came as she badly needs cooperation from the business community to help revive Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
(Yonhap)
