Seoul, Dec 24 South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday said that he granted a special pardon to former President Park Geun-hye, currently serving a 22-year prison term for corruption, to bolster national unity and in consideration of her deteriorating health.
Moon said he decided to pardon Park and exonerate former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook because there is "desperate need for national unity and humble inclusiveness", Yonhap News Agency quoted presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee as saying to reporters.
"In the case of ex-President Park, it was taken into consideration that her health deteriorated a lot because (she) has served almost five years of her sentence," Moon was quoted as saying by the spokesperson.
Pardoning the former leader came as a surprise because Moon had ruled out the possibility of granting her a pardon.
This year, the 69-year-old Park was hospitalised three times due to chronic shoulder and lower back pain. In 2019, she underwent a shoulder surgery.
Park has been serving a combined 22-year prison sentence since March 2017 after being impeached and removed from office over far-reaching corruption charges and an influence-peddling scandal.
Granting a pardon to the former President is expected to have a significant impact on next the March 9, 2022 presidential election, as Park has commanded the support of voters in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, a stronghold of the main opposition People Power Party.
Meanwhile, the government also announced it will exonerate Han, a former Prime Minister during the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration who was convicted of bribery and has served her full prison sentence.
Han, who served as from 2006 to 2007, was imprisoned from 2015-2017 after being convicted of accepting about 900 million won ($$795,000) in illegal political funds from a late businessman while in office.
Han has long claimed innocence, arguing that she never accepted the money and that the charges against her were fabricated as part of political revenge by a conservative government against the former liberal administration of late President Roh Moo-hyun.
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