[News Today] UPCOMING PARDONS BENEFICIARIES

[LEAD]
It has been confirmed that former Gyeongsangnamdo Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo and former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cho Yoon-sun are on the list for the upcoming Liberation Day special pardon. Kim, previously barred from election until 2027, may return to politics if reinstated. This development could significantly impact the political landscape.

[REPORT]
It's been confirmed that the justice ministry's pardon review committee has included former
Gyeongsangnamdo Province governor Kim Kyoung-soo and former culture minister Cho Yoon-sun among the beneficiaries of the upcoming Liberation Day special presidential pardons and reinstatements.

If the special pardons are granted, they will be the first in six months since the Lunar New Year pardons in February, and mark the fifth overall under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Park Sung-jae / Minister of Justice (Aug. 8)
(Will former governor Kim Kyoung-soo be included?) I have nothing to say.

The former governor was sentenced to 2 years in prison for an online opinion manipulation case but the remainder of his term got exempted in a new year pardon in late 2022.

However Kim was still not fully reinstated, barring him from running in an election until December 2027.

If his reinstatement goes ahead, Kim could reenter politics, posing a new variable to the opposition landscape where Lee Jae-myung is almost certain to serve another term as leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.

Former culture minister Cho was indicted on charges of drafting a blacklist of cultural figures and was sentenced to 14 months behind bars by the Supreme Court this February. But as she already served that length during the investigation and trial process, she wasn't further incarcerated.

When justice minister Park Sung-jae reports the pardons list including the two figures to President Yoon Suk Yeol, the list will be finalized through Cabinet approval on Tuesday.

Commenting on the matter, one presidential official gave a theoretical response, saying that procedures are underway and nothing is decided.