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The "Special Amnesty for Gwangbokjeol," which heated up the political world last year with the pardon and reinstatement of Cho Kuk, the former leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, disappeared this year. Every year ahead of Liberation Day, the names of politicians and businessmen came up and down, drawing attention, but this year, Liberation Day was celebrated without a separate amnesty process.

Earlier, there was no special envoy in the New Year and March 1st, and if the special envoy does not take place for the rest of this year, it is expected to be the first year without a special envoy since 2017.

According to the political and legal circles on the 15th, the government has decided not to grant special pardons ahead of the 81st Independence Day. The Ministry of Justice's Amnesty Review Committee, which is usually held ahead of special pardons, was also not held ahead of Liberation Day.

Special pardons are the president's own authority under the Constitution. The Ministry of Justice's Amnesty Review Committee examines the subjects and when the Minister of Justice returns to the president, the president takes the final decision after deliberation by the State Council. There is no provision in the law that special pardons must be made at a specific time, such as National Liberation Day or New Year's Day.

This is in contrast to just a year ago. The Lee Jae Myung government issued its first special pardon since its inauguration last year in time for Liberation Day. At that time, 2,188 people, including former representative Cho, politicians, businessmen, and labor figures, were included in the list of amnesty and reinstatement. Special reductions were also made for 830,000 people subject to administrative sanctions, including information and communication businesses and food service businesses.

In particular, former representative Cho was at the center of attention. Former representative Cho was jailed after being sentenced to two years in prison by the Supreme Court at the end of 2024 on charges of corruption in children's entrance exams and covering up the inspection of the Blue House. The original release date was December 2026, but he was released after about eight months of imprisonment due to a special pardon on Liberation Day last year.

In addition to former representative Cho, political and former public officials, including his wife Chung Kyung-sim, former professor of Dongyang University, former lawmakers Choi Kang-wook and Yoon Mi-hyang, and former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Cho Hee-yeon, were listed on the list of amnesty and reinstatement at the time. The government included 27 former key government officials and politicians in the list of pardons, citing national unity as the main cause for pardons.

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In previous governments, the Liberation Day special envoy has been used as a means of giving major politicians and businessmen a chance again in the name of national unity or recovery of people's livelihoods. However, opposition parties have constantly criticized that the president's right to pardon is exercised based on political interests.

In 2022, the first year of the Yoon Suk Yeol government, 1,693 people were included in the special pardon list for Liberation Day. At that time, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong was reinstated, and major businessmen such as Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin were pardoned and reinstated. Separately, the government also gave special reductions to about 590,000 people subject to administrative sanctions such as driver's licenses.

In 2023, the following year, the number of amnesty increased to 2,176. General criminals, small and medium-sized businessmen, small businessmen, businessmen, politicians, and former public officials were targeted. The number of people eligible for special administrative sanctions reductions also reached 811,978. At that time, former Gangseo-gu Mayor Kim Tae-woo, former Namyangju Mayor Cho Kwang-han, and former Minister of Strategy and Finance Kang Man-soo were pardoned and reinstated.

On Liberation Day in 2024, 1219 people were granted special pardons, commutations, and reinstated. Former Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was convicted in the Druking comment manipulation case, was reinstated, and former Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Cho Yoon-sun and former National Intelligence Service Director Won Se-hoon were also included in the list.

However, the special envoy for the Liberation Day was not carried out every year. During the Moon Jae In government's term, no special amnesty for the Liberation Day was implemented. Instead, he made a special envoy on the occasion of the New Year and the March 1st Independence Movement.