President Lee grants special pardon to fmr. minor party leader Cho Kuk

And President Lee Jae Myung has granted special Liberation Day pardons to 2-thousand-1-hundred-88 individuals including Cho Kuk the former head of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party.

The decision was made at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting held on this Monday afternoon.

Cho who served as Justice Minister and senior presidential aide to former President Moon Jae-in has been serving a two-year prison term since last December for academic fraud involving his children and unlawful interference with a government-led corruption inspection.

Pardoned with restoration of rights Cho can run for public office again.

The first round of presidential pardons under the new administration will take effect this coming Friday.