PRESIDENT Kim Young-sam yesterday agreed to free his jailed predecessors Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo at president-elect Kim Dae-jung's request.
Chun and Roh were jailed in 1995 for masterminding a 1979 coup and a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Kwangju the following year, which left more than 200 dead, and for taking millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen while in office.
They are expected to be freed tomorrow after endorsement of the decision at a special Cabinet meeting. Chun was jailed for life and Roh for 17 years.
Both will still have to pay fines - in Chun's case US$270 million (HK$2.09 billion), in Roh's US$350 million.
Mr Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death by Chun's military regime for fomenting the protest in Kwangju that led to the massacre.
After Washington intervened, his sentence was reduced to life and then to 20 years. He was released after two years and allowed to go to the US for medical treatment.
The release of the two men was widely seen as a gesture by the president-elect to ease fears of political revenge and rally support across political lines.