SOUTH KOREA-PARDONS South Korea grants pardons to SK Group chairman Chey and others

Record ID: 144180

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA-PARDONS South Korea grants pardons to SK Group chairman Chey and others
  • Date: 13th August 2015
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AUGUST 13, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE, KIM HYUN-WOONG, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE VENUE, BOWING AND STANDING AT PODIUM JOURNALISTS TYPING AND CAMERAMEN FILMING AT NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE, KIM HYUN-WOONG, SAYING: "The South Korean government has decided from August 14th 2015 to grant pardons to 6,527 people, including those who had committed ordinary criminal offenses for their own survival and businessmen, including those of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as underprivileged prisoners." JOURNALISTS TYPING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE, KIM HYUN-WOONG, SAYING: "(The South Korean government) granted pardons to 14 businessmen including Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group. They will be spared serving prison time as we have invalidated their punishment and lifted further restrictions." KIM BOWING AND LEAVING EXTERIOR OF SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT COMPLEX BUILDING SOUTH KOREAN NATIONAL FLAG ON GOVERNMENT COMPLEX BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3LZXR02XXNJLLN3A13G2MKP2M
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Korea granted pardons on Thursday (August 13) to 6,527 people including Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group, the country's third-largest conglomerate, the justice minister said, citing in part Seoul's efforts to revive a sputtering economy.
    "The South Korean government has decided from August 14th 2015 to grant pardons to 6,527 people, including those who had committed ordinary criminal offenses for their own survival and businessmen, including those of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as underprivileged prisoners," Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong told a news conference in Seoul.
    "(The South Korean government) granted pardons to 14 businessmen including Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group. They will be spared serving prison time as we have invalidated their punishment and lifted further restrictions," Kim added.
    Last year, the country's Supreme Court confirmed Chey's four-year prison sentence for embezzlement. He has been in jail since January 2013, serving one of the longest-ever prison terms for a South Korean business leader.
    President Park Geun-hye's pardons come as the country is marking the 70 year anniversary of the end of Japan's colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula.
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