The Ministry of Justice's special pardon review committee confirmed on the 8th that former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang is included in the list of those eligible for the Liberation Day special pardon. Yoon was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison, with a 3-year probation, by the Supreme Court last November on charges including the embezzlement of funds meant for victims of the Japanese military's wartime sexual slavery.
According to the legal community on that day, the review committee held a meeting the previous afternoon to examine the candidates for the Liberation Day special pardon. The committee decided to recommend that President Lee Jae-myung also include former lawmaker Yoon in the special pardon, along with former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who was convicted on charges of 'admission fraud involving his children,' his wife Jeong Kyung-shim, and former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choi Kang-wook.
Former lawmaker Yoon, who highlighted her position as the chairperson of the 'Justice Memory Solidarity,' which supports victims of sexual slavery, was elected as a proportional representative from the Democratic Party's satellite party in the April 2020 general election. However, the following month, a comfort woman named Lee Yong-soo raised allegations of embezzlement involving Yoon's organization.
The results of the prosecutors' investigation revealed that Yoon misused 107.35 million won of funds from the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (now the Justice Memory Solidarity), then known as Jeongdaehyup, for personal purposes over 217 occasions from 2011 to 2020. Additionally, Yoon faced charges of violating the Donation Act for collecting donations of 4.2 billion won via unregistered accounts, including 2.68 billion won from Jeongdaehyup, 1.32 billion won from the Justice Memory Solidarity, and 100 million won from Kim Bok-dong's Hope, as well as illegally receiving subsidies worth 367.5 million won.
The Supreme Court finalized Yoon's sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison, with a 3-year probation, in November of last year, four years and two months after the indictment. As the court proceedings took a long time, Yoon completed her tenure as a member of the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the final decision on the Liberation Day special pardon will be made by President Lee. If accepted by President Lee, the recipients will go through the Cabinet meeting and be pardoned and restored. The pardon applies to those who still have remaining prison sentences. If granted a pardon, the remaining sentence is voided.