South Korea's ex-president Park set free after pardon

SEOUL • South Korea's former president Park Geun-hye was released from prison yesterday, after four years and nine months of imprisonment following her impeachment and ouster from office for corruption.

Her release fuelled debate over whether she would play any role ahead of the March presidential election.

Ms Park, 69, was the country's first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office when the Constitutional Court upheld a Parliament vote in 2017 to impeach her over a scandal that also led to the jailing of the chiefs of two conglomerates, Samsung and Lotte.

She was given a 22-year sentence following her impeachment in 2017 and conviction for corruption and abuse of power.

In January last year, South Korea's top court upheld a 20-year prison sentence imposed after the ousted president was found guilty of colluding with former confidante Choi Soon-sil to receive tens of billions of won from the companies, mostly to fund Choi's family and non-profit foundations. Choi was also sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018.

President Moon Jae-in granted a special pardon to Ms Park last week, citing her deteriorating health and expressing hope to "overcome unfortunate past history and promote national unity".

Justice Ministry officials delivered the pardon to Ms Park at the hospital where she has been staying for a month at midnight on Thursday, Yonhap news agency reported yesterday, adding that she is expected to remain there until early February. She has been receiving treatment at the Seoul hospital for a series of back, shoulder and other ailments.

She did not comment, but her lawyer has said that Ms Park, the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee whose economic policies lifted South Korea out of poverty in the 1970s, had offered an apology for causing public concern and thanked Mr Moon for making a "tough decision".

Her release comes as her old party, the main opposition conservative People Power Party, and Mr Moon's Democratic Party are in a tight presidential race.

Hundreds of Ms Park's supporters late on Thursday braved freezing temperatures to flock to the hospital where she was staying to celebrate her release, with more than 1,000 bouquets of flowers, as well as a 4m-high LED tree bearing a message wishing her good health. The supporters let off fireworks when Ms Park's pardon went into effect at midnight.

Separately, about 200 people held a protest in downtown Seoul against her release, South Korea's Yonhap reported.

It was not clear if Ms Park would resume any political activity, but she said in a memoir released on Thursday that her conviction was politically motivated and she expressed hopes to "meet the people again one day".

People Power's presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, who investigated the Park scandal as prosecutor-general, yesterday said he had done his job as a public servant, adding that he would like to visit Ms Park when her health improved.

REUTERS