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Lawyer Koo Bon-min an outside member of the Justice Ministry's amnesty review committee, speaks to reporters before attending the committee meeting at the ministry building in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on Dec. 23. Yonhap

The Ministry of Justice convened its amnesty review committee Friday to deliberate on candidates for the special year-end presidential pardons.

The committee, chaired by Minister Han Dong-hoon, is made up of nine members, including five outside experts.

Han plans to report a list of candidates selected by the panel to President Yoon Suk Yeol, who will then finalize the list at a Cabinet meeting slated for next Tuesday. The special pardons are expected to take effect the following day, according to ministry officials.

The pardon of former President Lee Myung-bak, who was excluded from the previous one conducted in time for Liberation Day in August, is considered almost certain.

Lee was released from prison in June after the prosecution suspended his 17-year sentence due to chronic illnesses.

Another issue of interest is whether former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close associate of former President Moon Jae-in, will be granted a pardon.

Kim has been serving a two-year sentence on opinion-rigging charges and his sentence is set to end in May next year.

It was previously expected that Kim would receive a pardon without a reinstatement, which is necessary for him to resume political activities. If Kim is paroled without being reinstated, he will be barred from running for elections until May 2028.

But Kim said through a Democratic Party lawmaker on Dec. 14 that he does not want to be released from prison on parole in order not to be used as an accessory in Yoon's pardoning of Lee. (Yonhap)