SKorea ex-President Park, jailed for corruption, is pardoned

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he will pardon his chief conservative rival and predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who is serving a lengthy prison term for bribery and other crimes. Moon’s government says the pardon is meant to promote national unity in the face of difficulties brought by the pandemic. Some analysts say Moon may want to ease conservative criticism stemming from Park’s health problems, or even use her to split the opposition ahead of a presidential election in March. Park, a daughter of a slain dictator, was once the darling of conservatives and was elected South Korea’s first female president in 2012. She was convicted of collusion to take millions of dollars in bribes from Samsung and other big businesses.