South Korean ousted leader Park Geun-hye arrives at a court in Seoul, South Korea, August 25, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
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SEOUL, Dec 24 (Reuters) – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in granted a pardon to former President Park Geun-hye, who was in prison after being convicted of corruption, the justice ministry said on Friday, amid a tight presidential race.
Park, 69, became South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office when the Constitutional Court upheld a parliament vote in 2017 to impeach her over a scandal that also landed the heads of two conglomerates, including Samsung, in jail.
She was brought down after being found guilty of colluding with a friend to receive tens of billions of won from major conglomerates mostly to fund her friend’s family and nonprofit foundations.
