The 69-year-old ex-president has been included in a list of 3,094 pardons who are slated to be released on New Year’s Eve.
It is noted that the decision on the amnesty was made taking into account the deterioration of her health. Park Geun Hae has been admitted to the hospital three times this year for chronic shoulder and back problems.
Park Geun Hae was president from 2013 to 2017. She was removed from power on charges of corruption. In 2018, the ex-president was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 2020, the term was reduced to 20 years. She was to spend another two years in prison on a sentence of illegal interference in the process of nominating candidates for the then ruling conservative Senuri party. Park Geun-hye was detained for four years and nine months.
At the same time, another former South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, who is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence for embezzlement and bribery, was removed from the list of persons subject to pardon.
The government said the decisions were taken as a means of overcoming the nationwide crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of overcoming the “sad history of the past and achieving great unity among people.”
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