In South Korea, economics trumps justice. Chung Mong-koo, the head of Hyundai who recently received a suspended sentence for embezzling and bribes has -- along with 341,000 other businessmen, bureaucrats, and politicians -- been given a full pardon.

President Lee Myung-bak, who said he was "personally against" the decision, decided to issue the pardons anyway. Mong-koo wasn't even in jail, but apparently the convicted and jailed businessmen were "having problems doing business overseas." Go figure.

So on Liberation Day, in hopes that "businessmen would take the lead in reviving the economy by creating jobs through active investment and exploring markets abroad," the bad guys got gifts even better than walking papers. In South Korea, crime does pay... if you have good business sense.

[Source: Reuters]