South Korea pardons disgraced ex-president Park

SEOUL - South Korea has pardoned disgraced ex-president Park Geun-hye, the justice minister said Friday (Dec 24), in a dramatic reprieve for the former leader who was jailed for 20 years in a sprawling corruption scandal.

She was on a list of people receiving special amnesty, and “pardon was granted to heal social conflicts and restore the local community”, Park Beom-kye told reporters.

She became South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office when, in 2017, the Constitutional Court upheld a Parliament vote to impeach her over a scandal that also landed the heads of two conglomerates in jail.

She was brought down after being found guilty of colluding with a confidante to receive tens of billions of won from major conglomerates to help her family and fund non-profit foundations she owned.

In January, South Korea's top court upheld a 20-year prison sentence for Park on the graft charges that led to her downfall, bringing an end to the legal process and for the first time raising the possibility of a pardon.

Ruling Democratic Party lawmakers have previously floated the idea of a pardon for Park and another ex-president, Lee Myung-bak, in the name of national unity.

Park, 69, has experienced health problems while in prison, including undergoing shoulder surgery, according to South Korean media.

READ ALSO: South Korean court increases ex-president Park's jail term to 25 years: Yonhap