I guess this was widely expected by all… No sure who else made The List, tho:
S.Korea pardons Daewoo founder, death-row inmates
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s president on Monday commuted the death sentences of six inmates on death row and pardoned the founder of the Daewoo conglomerate, convicted of fraud in one of the biggest corporate bankruptcies in history. President Roh Moo-hyun granted amnesty to Daewoo’s Kim Woo-choong, 71, along with 74 other people, including convicted business leaders, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
Daewoo founder Kim, who once ran the country’s second largest conglomerate, was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 10 years in jail for embezzlement and covering up billions of dollars in debt. His sentence was later reduced to 8- years and then suspended due to health concerns.
South Korean presidents traditionally hand out pardons for the new year.
South Korea, which is considering legislation to ban the death penalty, last carried out an execution on December 30, 1997, when 23 death-row inmates were hanged, Yonhap news agency reported. There are 58 inmates currently on death row.
And M-Holers — even those of you guilty M-Holers who didn’t get pardoned this time — stay safe while you enjoy your New Year’s Eve parties!! — sanshinseon
22 Comments
Roh might have been incompetent as head of state, but I will have trouble saying too many bad things about him. The FTA with the US and IF there is the elimination of capital punishment, leaves two good things to say of him.
23 executions in one day? That is crazy.
Looks like someone’s gonna get a really big present this New Year’s! Folks, don’t forget: the knowledgable staff at either Shinsegae’s 명품관 or Lotte’s Avenuel can help you to find the perfect way to say ‘thank you’ to that special someone, but for traditionalists, nothing spells ’shopping fun’ quite like a visit to Galleria East.
A move to distance himself from the Samsung scandal?
> 23 executions in one day? That is crazy.
Well no not ‘crazy’ — it’s the traditional “taking out the trash” custom over here y’know — those who are pitiful or influential enuff get pardoned before the “king” leaves office, and those who don’t ‘qualify’ for that ‘grace’ finally get what they were sentenced to in His final days, whenever they come…
The Republic of Korea seems to be decisively moving beyond (morally above) the Death Penalty, and i’m glad of that. Now if only Texas can be persuaded to follow suit, join civilized humanity…
“— those who are pitiful or influential enuff get pardoned before the “king” leaves office, and those who don’t ‘qualify’ for that ‘grace’ finally get what they were sentenced to in His final days, whenever they come…”
What’s pitiful is that the incumbent and the president elect were both former human rights activists.
What do you suppose motivates Roh to pardon these people? Is it ideology or payola? (I’m not asking this sarcastically; I’d like to hear what people think.)
Roh pardoned his own aid, Choi Do-sul, who had been convicted of receiving bribes while serving as a Blue House secretary, reinstated the political rights of Park Jie-won, a key aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, meaning this wonderful sack of dung can run again for public office. Oddly enough, Roh pardoned Park over his conviction of receiving bribes from Hyundai last February as well.
Two former National Intelligence Service chiefs, Shin Kuhn and Lim Dong-won were also pardoned, despite the fact they should really be in jail.
The dignity of the law and society is nothing if one has highly placed friends, it seems. The Choson dynasty is still in power.
“The Republic of Korea seems to be decisively moving beyond (morally above) the Death Penalty, and i’m glad of that. Now if only Texas can be persuaded to follow suit, join civilized humanity…”
No mention about Chinese policies or those of other countries around the world (many in the middle east) who still dispose of murderers in a like manner instead of providing them with room, board, and cable TV for the rest of their long lives at taxpayer expense. Kudos to Texas.
And “civilized humanity” here in South Korea? Yeah, I guess brushing under the rug the atrocities that are still occurring in the north and either re-writing history or deleting it all together from our children’s text books helps to make one CIVILIZED while pointing out flaws in other countries or states. Keep those “stones” comming, sinless.
“…Now if only Texas can be persuaded to follow suit, join civilized humanity…”
Perhaps you and President Roh could move to Texas, become social workers, and show we death penalty barbarians how it’s done — by doing something about the Micheal Wayne Richard’s of this world, before they do “their thing” to people like Marguerite Dixon.
Dixon = the 1986 victim of Michael Wayne Richard, the most recent inmate executed by Texas (26 Sept 07): http://www.txexecutions.org/reports/405.asp.
Maybe Richard should have been born a Korean instead. Not a North Korean, of course, they’ve got enough problems as is…
Hey what’s happened to the automatic preview function here? Sigh, another loss for civilized humanity…
#7,
Yeah, and I naively thought it was terrible when Clinton pardoned one of his friends.
And GW Bush kept Scooter out of well-deserved jail, so that he wouldn’t ’spill the beans’ on Cheney & Rove… There is no honor among any of those thieves, in any nation; right or left makes no difference when it comes to practical political ethics being polluted.
#8 & #9 — yes, it’s always amusing that the pro-death right-wingers are SO proud to be in the legal-ethics company of China, Burma, Sudan and Saudi Arabia… Those most excellent models for America to emulate…
It would be nice if Mr Marmot issued pardons for banned posters.
#12,
I wasn’t aware of that one, not that it surprises he’d do something like that.
What’s with death row? Why wait?
#4/13…What I find amusing is your use of the term “civilized” when referring to South Korea or any other part of this world we inhabit. Texans at least get to vote (most other nations do not) on whether or not to execute cold blooded murderers of “innocents” or having them live for years enjoying food, shelter, cable TV, and even a free education on the tax payers’ dime. Feel free to pay my share, and then I’ll consider letting these pillars of society live out their lives’ in a state pen.
Roh almost pardoned Kim Dae-up, the guy effectively stole the election for him with a false allegation five years ago. The fact that he even considered his pardon says something about Roh. Roh wanted to thank him, as he did to many of his departing ministers and other senior advisors with government medals, but even he found it too much for the public opinion to digest, so he had to drop the idea.
I thought Roh did pardon Kim Dae-up . . . ?
No, Kim was not pardoned.
http://news.chosun.com/site/da.....01055.html
I must be a weird being.I love/hate the aclu.I don’t like the freaks they coddle sometimes, but I’d love it if they’d fry my employer(and all their ilk…think halliburton/blackwater types).Does anyone remember the loonies(here) a few years back that were eating the rich?I think they got executed in the mid/late 90’s.Good thing I think,as long as irrefutable proof was presented.But…I think recreational drugs should be legal.
Concientious capitalism.Socialized democracy.Less emphasis on shareholder(gabillionaire) value.Execution of the deserving.What’s wrong with any of that?
One bad keystroke.I forgot freedom of/from religion.Happy earth crossing some unimportant plane in it’s orbit.