The government will hold a preliminary review next week of who will be eligible for special presidential pardons slated for the year-end.  

According to legal circles on Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice will convene its pardon review committee on December 23 to determine possible candidates. 

The committee will comprise four senior officials within the ministry and the prosecution, including justice minister Han Dong-hoon, and five external legal experts. Final candidates will be released from jail on December 28 pending a Cabinet confirmation. 

Former President Lee Myung-bak, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison on corruption charges, is reportedly among the likely candidates for the latest pardons. 

Former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo, whose sentence for opinion-rigging charges is set to end next year, may also make the list, but he earlier said he intends not to accept a pardon without reinstatement, repeatedly claiming his innocence. 

Kim, a formerly key member of the main opposition Democratic Party, claimed that the government may consider him as a candidate only because it will balance out a pardon for the conservative ex-president.