Gov't grants sweeping amnesty on Aug. 15

A total of 30,647 criminals will be granted pardons, rehabilitation of their civil rights or parole Tuesday on the occasion of the Aug. 15 Liberation Day, the government announced Monday. They include Kim Hyon-Chol, second son of former president Kim Young-Sam, whose civil rights were reinstated, and Hong In-Kil, former senior presidential secretary for general affairs during the Kim Young-Sam administration, who will be released from prison thanks to a suspension of his jail term.

The government`s leniency this year is the largest ever. A total of 3,586 convicts will be released from prisons across the nation at 10 a.m., while 23,730 people, including election law violators and those who committed crimes for their livelihood during the IMF era, will recover civil rights such as eligibility for elections. Two criminals on death row had their sentences commuted to life in prison, while 140 life prisoners had their sentences commuted to 20 years in jail.

Former lawmaker Lee Won-Jo, who served a prison term for his involvement in the slush fund scandal of former president Roh Tae-Woo, will also have his civil rights restored. The presidential special amnesty will also affect Hong Suk-Hyon, president and publisher of the vernacular newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, who was convicted of tax evasion, and Hong Too-Pyo, former president of the state-run Korea Broadcasting System, convicted of having accepted bribes. The two Hongs will have their suspended civil rights restored.