Yoon’s mother-in-law to be released on parole

Choi Eun-soon, President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law, center, enters Uijeongbu District Court in northeastern Seoul in July last year. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s mother-in-law, who is currently serving a one-year jail sentence for forgery, will be released some two months early, said the Justice Ministry on Wednesday.

Choi Eun-soon, the 77-year-old mother of first lady Kim Keon Hee, will be released 10 a.m. on May 14, a day ahead of Buddha’s birthday, considering various factors including her age, health condition and good behavior while incarcerated, according to the ministry’s nine-member Probation and Parole Board.

“The Justice Ministry’s parole review committee, with outside members consisting of more than half of the panel, unanimously agreed to release by comprehensively considering (her) age, the period of the jail term, correction scores, health condition and the risk of a second offense," the ministry said.

The ministry added that Choi has expressed worries that she didn’t want to be seen as a “subject of controversy and concern” by the public, regarding the panel’s decision.

Under the final approval of Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, she will be among 650 convicts released early from 55 institutions across the country, in the latest round of parole.

Choi was determined ineligible for the monthly parole review held in March, which had blocked her early release at the time. The board had decided to postpone their decision for the corresponding review session last month, leading to Wednesday’s announcement.

Choi has been incarcerated at the Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul since July last year, after an appellate court confirmed her one-year prison sentence for falsifying her bank balance certificate to make it appear as though she had deposited 34.9 billion won ($25.4 million) in the account for a land purchase deal, as well as for purchasing property using other people's names.

Korean law states that an inmate becomes eligible for parole when they have served at least one-third of their sentence. However, it is conventional to be allowed a preliminary parole review after serving at least half of one's sentence.

Once cleared for parole by the board, which is chaired by the vice minister of justice, an inmate has to be approved by the justice minister.