South Korea yesterday announced pardons for more than 430 convicted business leaders and politicians in a bid to boost the economy 10 years after the Asian financial crisis.
The list agreed at a Cabinet meeting includes Park Yong-sung, a member of the International Olympic Committee and former Doosan Group chairman, and the sons of two former presidents.
But officials said the presidential pardons did not include Kim Woo-choong, jailed founder of the now-defunct Daewoo Group, partly because the cost of salvaging his bankrupt business was so huge.
The special amnesty aims "to help create a favorable atmosphere to focus on economic recovery and achieving national unity," the justice ministry said in a statement.
`momentum'
"This measure is expected to provide momentum for creating new jobs and a second economic leap forward and laying a stepping stone towards national reconciliation," the statement added.
Justice Minister Kim Sung-ho said the government had decided to give convicted businessmen a second chance as the country marks the 10th anniversary of the Asian financial crisis.
South Korea launched a drive to rein in its all-powerful conglomerates, or chaebol, after the financial crisis, which sparked a spate of bankruptcies.
Seoul accepted the biggest bailout in the IMF's history to help it recover.
But high-profile business leaders have often received sentences seen as lenient, or have been pardoned.
Anniversary
The amnesty, effective Monday, was granted to mark the fourth anniversary this month of President Roh Moo-Hyun's inauguration.
Among the 434 people who will benefit are 160 businessmen, most of whom were jailed for embezzlement, tax evasion, fraud or donating illegal political funds.
Park was convicted last year of embezzling US$30 million from Doosan companies in a family feud over control of the construction group, and his IOC membership remains suspended.
He was given a three-year suspended jail term and an 8-billion-won (US$8.2 million) fine.
Also pardoned were Park Jie-won, who served as chief of staff for former President Kim Dae-jung; Kwon Ro-kap, a key aide to the former president; Kim Hong-il, an ex-lawmaker and the eldest son of the former president; and Kim Hyun-chul, the second son of ex-President Kim Young-sam. The former chairman of Ssangyong Group, Kim Suk-won, was also pardoned.
Park Jie-won was sentenced in September to three years in prison for bribery. He was also convicted of abusing his power and violating domestic laws while orchestrating the Hyundai group's secret money transfers to North Korea ahead of the 2000 inter-Korean summit.
Daewoo's Kim was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for fraud and embezzlement. Last December a court suspended the sentence for three months to allow him to receive treatment for heart disease.
Daewoo had debts of US$82 billion when it went under in 1999 in one of the world's largest corporate failures. The government was forced to spend some 30 trillion won to rescue it.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)