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Kim Hyun-chul, the son of the former President Kim Young-sam, was sentenced to two years in jail on conviction of taking bribes and tax evasion, His name has been put on a list for a presidential special pardon which occurs every anniversary of the Samil Independence Movement and Liberation Day August 15. In this Liberation Day, his name was included on the list, the reason being that he is the a son of a former President, in spite of the fact that he served just six months only one quarter of his sentence.
After President Kim announced that Kim Hyun-chul was included in the upcoming presidential clemency, civic groups held a news conference in opposition to the granting of amnesty for Kim Hyun-chul. In spite of growing public cynicism over the often-abused executive privilege to pardon, President Kim decided to grant a limited pardon to him. Spokseman Park Joon-young said, "the President made the decision to help the nation make a fresh start for the new millennium with the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness".
But it is difficult to understand the decision of President Kim. The presidential pardon is only supposed to be used to fulfill social justice and reconcile the public by exempting prisoners whose sentences were long or whose punishment doesn't agree with the present social situation. That is, the subjects of pardons are usually prisoners of conscience.
Nonetheless, Kim Hyun-chul was released. He served only one quarter of his sentence and has not made any public apology for what he has done. Only the prisoners of conscience who have served over their sentence half can be the subject of a presidential amnesty. And the government forces them to sign a pledge to observe the law.
In addition, it is said that former President Kim Young-sam had appealed to the President to pardon his son during the transition period. Recently, it is reported that the former President often met President Kim to ask him to pardon his son. That is, it seems that President Kim made his mind to release him in relation to the former President's appeal. In addition, it seems that he decided it may profit him, after considering that Hyun-chul's return to prison may be viewed as political revenge against his predecessor, Kim Young-sam. But it is clear that he couldn't draw a line between public and private reason.
That is, it shows that the pardon was abused by the President. Former presidents including Roh Tae-woo and Kim Young-sam have abused the pardon for themselves, too.
That is to say, releasing Kim Hyun-chul goes against the principle of the rule of the law. Therefore, the President's right to grant clemency should be somehow restricted in order to bar the chief executive from abusing the privilege.