Seoul, Dec 24 (IANS) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday said that he granted a special pardon to former President Park Geun-hye, currently serving a 22-year prison term for corruption, to bolster national unity and in consideration of her deteriorating health.Moon said he decided to pardon Park and exonerate former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook because there is "desperate need for national unity and humble inclusiveness", Yonhap News Agency quoted presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee as saying to reporters."In the case of ex-President Park, it was taken into consideration that her health deteriorated a lot because (she) has served almost five years of her sentence," Moon was quoted as saying by the spokesperson.Pardoning the former leader came as a surprise because Moon had ruled out the possibility of granting her a pardon.This year, the 69-year-old Park was hospitalised three times due to chronic shoulder and lower back pain. In 2019, she underwent a shoulder surgery.Park has been serving a combined 22-year prison sentence since March 2017 after being impeached and removed from office over far-reaching corruption charges and an influence-peddling scandal.Granting a pardon to the former President is expected to have a significant impact on next the March 9, 2022 presidential election, as Park has commanded the support of voters in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, a stronghold of the main opposition People Power Party.Meanwhile, the government also announced it will exonerate Han, a former Prime Minister during the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration who was convicted of bribery and has served her full prison sentence.Han, who served as from 2006 to 2007, was imprisoned from 2015-2017 after being convicted of accepting about 900 million won ($$795,000) in illegal political funds from a late businessman while in office.Han has long claimed innocence, arguing that she never accepted the money and that the charges against her were fabricated as part of political revenge by a conservative government against the former liberal administration of late President Roh Moo-hyun.
--IANS ksk/
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