President Park Geun-hye may reduce the number of convicted business tycoons to be granted special pardons this week, a senior presidential official said Tuesday.
  

Park plans to grant amnesty to a selected group of convicts on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
  

Liberation Day, which falls on Aug. 15, is one of the major holidays in South Korea. In South Korea, presidents usually grant special pardons in commemoration of major national holidays.
  

"It's not clear who will receive pardons, though it seems correct that there is an atmosphere that the list of businessmen to be granted pardons will be cut," the senior official said. He asked not to be identified because no final decision has been made yet.
  

The Ministry of Justice cut the number of convicted businessmen to be granted special pardons at a review committee meeting held on Monday, another presidential official said.
  

The list is set to be sent to Park for final approval.
  

At stake is whether Park will include SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon on the list of people who will receive the amnesty at a time when she badly needs cooperation from the business community to help revive Asia's fourth-largest economy.
  

Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office, won't confirm or comment on pardons until an official announcement is made, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.
  

Last year, South Korea's top court upheld a four-year jail sentence against Chey for embezzling 46.5 billion won ($43.6 million) from two SK Group affiliates and funneling the funds into personal investments in stock futures and options in 2008.
  

In February, an appeals court gave Kim a three-year sentence for illegally using company money to pay back the debts of firms he ran under borrowed names. The sentence was suspended for five years, saving him from serving a jail term. (Yonhap)