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South Korea Pardons Disgraced, Impeached, Imprisoned Ex-President

Park Geun-hye was impeached over a corruption scandal in 2017 and is currently serving a 20-year prison term. She will be released in the interest of “reconciliation” on Dec. 31.

The South Korean Justice Ministry said Friday that President Moon Jae-in has granted a pardon to former president Park Geun-hye, and will release her from prison on the last day of the year. Park, 69, is South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be pushed out of office. She has served four years and nine months of a 20-year prison term on graft charges after a corruption scandal rocked her presidency, leading to her 2017 impeachment and ouster from office. Her release was ordered to promote “reconciliation” and to “consolidate national power to help overcome the national crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement. Justice Minister Park Beom-kye said in a briefing that the government had chosen to pardon Park “to overcome unfortunate past history, realize people’s unity and provide a chance to take a new step forward to the future.” The decision comes as supporters of the opposition faction, the People Power Party, have been increasingly calling for Park’s pardon ahead of the country's presidential election in March.