Traditionally granted by the country’s president to celebrate the Independence Day on 15 August, the amnesty covered 341,000 executives, politicians and bureaucrats this year, including Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-Koo, SK group chairman Chey Tae-Won and Hanwha group chairman Kim Seung-Youn (Reuters).

"I am aware that there is criticism of the amnesties and personally I oppose them," said Lee said in a statement. "But I considered slowing investment and decided that businesses may be facing difficulties"(Asia Times).

Business lobby groups, such as the Federation of Korean Industries, praised the amnesty, saying the convictions had “deterred big businesses from making aggressive investments”, reports Financial Times (FT).

However, the move has been met with strong criticism from opposition parties and civil society who argue “the practice of pardoning wrong-doers risked suggesting that businessmen and politicians would not suffer severe penalties for serious crimes,” writes FT. “By tolerating corporate crimes, the government has damaged the spirit of law observance, which threatens the long-term growth of the Korean economy,” said Kim Sang-jo, a trade professor at Hansung University, reports Yonhap.

Amnesty for high-ranking business people is apparently not unprecedented. AFP reports that “South Korean judges have a long record of leniency towards bosses of chaebol -- giant family-run conglomerates -- and other prominent white-collar criminals”. However, this year's pardon did not include Lee Kun-hee, the former Samsung chief convicted in July for tax evasion (Associated Press).