Tycoons pardoned by South Korean president

South Korea announced pardons for three convicted high-profile corporate tycoons today, part of a traditional presidential amnesty ahead of the country’s Liberation Day.

A total of 341,864 people were to be granted pardons, reduced sentences or the restoration of their civil rights under the special amnesty, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

South Korean presidents often mark Liberation Day and other special holidays by granting such dispensations.

Liberation Day commemorates the August 15, 1945, end of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.

Though the pardons cover many people from the country’s political and business worlds, the vast majority are for minor offences by civil servants. A total of 10,416 of the people committed criminal offences.

Among the 74 people in the economic sector receiving pardons were Chung Mong-koo, the chairman of Hyundai Motor Co., Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Kim Seung-youn, chairman of Hanwha Group.

The three tycoons were handed suspended prison terms by judges in recent years for embezzlement, accounting fraud and assault, respectively. Despite their convictions, all three have remained active in the boardroom.

Critics have said judges are too tolerant of crimes committed by heads of South Korea’s industrial conglomerates, traditional drivers of the country’s economy.

An appellate court judge in the trial of Hyundai’s Chung suspended his prison term, citing his indispensable role in South Korea’s economy.

The Justice Ministry said the pardons were meant to help South Korea “break through the serious economic difficulties” it faces.

Not included in the pardons was Lee Kun-hee, the former Samsung chief convicted in July for tax evasion.

Lee was handed a three-year prison term, suspended for five years, meaning there is no need to go to jail if he stays out of trouble during that period.