President Lee Jae-myung reportedly made the decision to grant a special pardon to former Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk on Aug. 15, National Liberation Day, based on a political judgment that 'if it cannot be avoided, early in the term is best.' Despite Cho's serving time for allegations of irregularities in his children's college admissions and a drop in approval ratings that was inevitable as he had only served 30% of his sentence, it was said that he agreed with his aides, who mentioned that the demand for 'Cho Kuk's pardon' from the pro-Moon Jae-in camp could not be avoided during his term. It is noted that he reached a conclusion on a troublesome issue at the beginning of a strong administration.
◇Called the chief of political affairs on vacation and said, 'Let's do what needs to be done.'
There were also internal reports from the presidential office that the approval rating for the government would drop by about 5%. Chief of Political Affairs Woo Sang-ho stated at a press briefing on the 21st, 'I reported to the President about the impact of the pardons for former representative Cho Kuk and others,' adding, 'I thought the issue of Cho Kuk's pardon would inevitably arise during his term. In that case, early in the term is at least better. If it's going to be done anyway, I believed that is the most desirable approach, and the President made a political decision.'
During the reporting process, Woo asked, 'Will you tolerate a drop in approval ratings?' and President Lee replied, 'I will consider it.' The President, who did not give a definitive answer, went on a summer vacation to Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, from the 4th to the 8th. During his vacation, President Lee reportedly called Woo directly and confirmed the pardon, saying, 'Let's do what needs to be done even if there are some damages.'
Woo mentioned that 'the pardon of politicians is discussed very late among presidential pardons' and that he established three principles during the discussions. In particular, adhering to the principle of excluding 'those who are close to the President,' he excluded former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-yong from the list of pardons. Furthermore, he indicated that while they would accept requests from various parties as much as possible, they would also follow the rule of excluding 'those who violated election laws.' He added, 'Many politicians violating election laws were included in the list of special pardon requests.'
In fact, various opinion polls showed a decline in the President's approval rating following the special pardon. Within the political arena, analysis indicated that in addition to 'Cho Kuk's pardon,' the backlash from stock investors regarding the 'strengthening of the transfer tax criteria for listed shares' also had an impact. Woo stated, 'The person who suffered the most from the pardon for politicians is President Lee,' adding, 'I believe that if it cannot be avoided, it is something that has to be done, and after much agony, a decision was made.' He also expressed, 'As the chief of political affairs handling this (politician's pardon), it was painful. It's also painful because I am the main culprit responsible for the drop in the President's approval rating.'
Former representative Cho Kuk is highly likely to return as the party leader at the Rebuilding Korea Party convention expected in November this year. The Rebuilding Korea Party decided to shorten the term of the current leadership and hold a regular convention with a approval rate of 98.36% after a two-day vote among members that started the previous day. This means that they are convening early to restore the party authority of former representative Cho Kuk, who is the 'actual major shareholder' of the party.