(2nd LD) Ex-defense minister, ex-presidential chief of staff granted special presidential pardons | Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) — President Yoon Suk Yeol granted special pardons to more than 450,000 people Tuesday on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, including former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, officials said. The special presidential pardons, the fourth of their kind since Yoon’s inauguration in 2022, will legally take effect at the beginning of Wednesday in the run-up to the Lunar New Year on Saturday. Among the most high-profile beneficiaries are Kim Kwan-jin, who served as defense minister from 2010 to 2014, and Kim Ki-choon, a former chief of staff for ousted former President Park Geun-hye. The former defense chief was given a two-year prison term by the Seoul High…