Pres. amnesty to benefit 14 execs but few from biz

The presidential amnesty issued Tuesday will benefit 14 corporate executives, mostly the heads of small and mid-size businesses except for Cho Hyun-joon, president of Textile PG under Hyosung Group, and former KT President Nam Joong-soo.

The eldest son of Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Suk-rai, Cho Hyun-joon was the lone relative of a conglomerate chief to receive a pardon. He is also the cousin of President Lee Myung-bak’s son-in-law Cho Hyun-beom, who is the president of Hankook Tire.

Cho Hyun-joon was sentenced 18 months in prison with a two-year suspension and fined 975.29 million won (898,880 U.S. dollars) in September last year for embezzling 5.5 million dollars from Hyosung America to buy real estate in the U.S.

Nam was the only employee of a large company to get a pardon. He received two years in prison with a three-year stay of execution for accepting bribes from suppliers in 2010.

President Lee’s confidant Chun Shin-il, former chairman of Sejoong Namo Tour, was also pardoned. Chun was convicted of bribery.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had proposed pardoning businessmen, submitted a list of executives from conglomerates and small and medium-size companies as in previous years. A large number of those from conglomerates were excluded from the list, however. The Justice Ministry said, “Most of them on the pardon list are small and medium-size business owners.”

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon and Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin were excluded from the amnesty because their legal proceedings are ongoing. Former Taekwang Industrial executive Lee Sun-ae, who is the mother of Lee Ho-jin, was not on the final list. Taekwang Industry CEO Park Yeon-cha, dubbed the "guardian" of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, was also snubbed.

nex@donga.com