South Korean Leader Pardons 5.5 Million

In the most sweeping pardon in South Korean history, President Kim Dae Jung, a former political prisoner, today announced an amnesty for 5.5 million South Koreans.

For the first time in history, the pardon was extended to some--though not all--of the prisoners who refuse to renounce their Communist ideology or loyalty to North Korea.

More than 5 million of those being pardoned are people convicted of drunken driving, check-bouncing and other such offenses. However, 2,304 inmates, including 74 political prisoners, were being released this afternoon, according to a decree by the minister of justice.

Among them was Hwang Sok Young, a prominent dissident novelist jailed for paying an illegal visit to North Korea and praising its leadership on North Korean television. Hwang’s release has long been demanded by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

“The pardon is meant to achieve national reconciliation, to overcome the economic crisis and to open up to the 21st century,” presidential spokesman Park Jie Won said.

The pardon drew mixed reactions from Korean human rights groups. Some said the amnesty did not go nearly far enough. But political analysts predicted that Kim’s move will not generate a domestic right-wing backlash and will probably be seen as an olive branch toward North Korea in advance of four-party talks with South Korea, the United States and China that are scheduled to be held in Geneva on Monday.

Since his election in December, Kim has been promising a pardon but has warned that the South Korean public is not yet prepared for a full release of prisoners who remain avowed Communists.

Moreover, there was concern in the Kim camp that too indiscriminate a pardon might reignite the old stereotype of the former dissident as a “dangerous radical,” an image Kim worked hard to erase in order to win the presidency.

In keeping with those concerns, a number of famous leftists and several people convicted of espionage were not on the list of those released today. Among the avowed Communists, only those 71 or older were released.

Of 23 prisoners who have been in jail more than 20 years and who refuse to renounce Communist sympathies, six were released on humanitarian grounds, while 12 others had their sentences reduced.

Among those remaining in jail were Woo Yong Gak, 70, a North Korean agent arrested while trying to infiltrate South Korea in 1958, who is believed to be the world’s longest-serving political prisoner; and Park No Hye, a poet and labor activist arrested in 1991 for advocating a workers’ state and allegedly inciting workers to revolt.

Significantly, the pardon also did not cover those convicted as a result of the 1996 Hanbo scandal, in which Hanbo Steel Co. collapsed under a mountain of bad debt after bribing politicians to pressure bankers to extend it more loans. The scandal, which was seen as an early indicator of South Korea’s dire economic woes, engulfed a dozen top tycoons, politicians of all parties, and finally former President Kim Young Sam’s son.

The exclusion means that the son, Kim Hyun Chul, as well Kwon No Gap, the man who was once perhaps Kim Dae Jung’s closest aide, will remain in jail. In addition, politicians and others convicted of violating the election laws were not pardoned, on the grounds that they might again disrupt or corrupt the local elections that are scheduled to be held in June.

“It’s great that politicians who violated the election law and took bribes have not been included,” said Choi Bong Kyu, secretary general of Minyuhyup, an organization of families whose relatives were killed during the struggle for democracy. “But we don’t understand why they had to set the age limit to over 70 for long-term prisoners. It’s as though the government is inviting more criticism from the international community.”

However, a statement by Minkahyup, another prominent human rights group, said the pardon covers only 15% of the 478 prisoners of conscience the government is holding--and some of them were scheduled to be released within nine days anyway.

“This falls short of the pardon of prisoners of conscience granted by the Kim Young Sam government in 1993,” the statement said.

Yonsei University political science professor Moon Chung In said the releases of Suh Kyong Won, a former lawmaker who had illegally visited North Korea and met with its late Stalinist leader, Kim Il Sung, and of dissident writer Hwang Sok Young, who had appeared on North Korean television endorsing current leader Kim Jong Il, were especially notable.

“The fact that Kim Dae Jung gave amnesty to those guys means he has both the will and the intention to have much more rapprochement with North Korea,” Moon said.

He also predicted that by extending the amnesty to drunken drivers, people convicted of issuing false promissory notes and other minor offenders, Kim’s government “was able to dilute the politicization of the release of the political sensitive figures like Hwang.”

The pardon restores all civil rights to those convicted of minor offenses and wipes clean the records of 167,000 former and current civil servants who have been reprimanded for various other offenses.

Another pardon--which human rights groups hope will go further--is expected Aug. 15.

Chi Jung Nam of The Times’ Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.