Mr. Choi Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for 'Balance Certificate Forgery'... Deemed Ineligible in February
If Parole Review Passes, Release Scheduled for the 30th
Parole review for Choi Eun-soon, mother-in-law of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was sentenced to one year in prison for forging a bank balance certificate, will be held on the 23rd.
The Ministry of Justice Parole Review Committee will hold a meeting at 2 p.m. on the 23rd at the Government Complex Gwacheon to assess the eligibility of parole candidates.
The review committee, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Justice, consists of five to nine members including the chairperson. Members are appointed or commissioned by the Minister of Justice from among judges, prosecutors, lawyers, Ministry of Justice officials, and correctional experts.
Under current law, inmates who have served more than one-third of their sentence are eligible for parole. Since Choi has served over 70% of her sentence, she is included in the parole review candidates. The Ministry of Justice classifies parole preliminary review candidates into seven types based on factors such as prison behavior, crime type, and health status, further subdividing them by security level and recidivism prediction index. Each inmate is applied a sentence execution rate ranging from 50% to 90% individually.
Choi was indicted on charges of forging bank balance certificates showing approximately 34.9 billion KRW deposited in savings banks four times between April 1 and October 11, 2013, during the land purchase process in Dochon-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province.
She is also accused of colluding with business partner Ahn Mo to file a lawsuit on August 7, 2013, demanding the return of a deposit related to the Dochon-dong land, submitting forged bank balance certificates worth about 10 billion KRW to the court.
The first trial sentenced Choi to one year in prison but did not order immediate detention. This was because she was released on bail during the appeal process of a separate case involving fraudulent receipt of nursing care benefits. Later, the Supreme Court acquitted her of the nursing care benefits fraud charges.
However, the second trial court ruled that "the right to defense was sufficiently guaranteed up to the appeal trial and the nature of the crime is very serious," ordering her immediate detention. The Supreme Court upheld the second trial’s decision. Currently, Choi has been detained in Seoul Eastern Detention Center for over nine months.
Choi was also reviewed by the parole committee in February but was deemed ineligible. Typically, if deemed ineligible, the candidate is excluded from the next month’s review but may be reconsidered later.
If Choi is selected for parole this time, she will be released at 10 a.m. on the 30th.
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