Last Month's Review Resulted in 'Pending Decision'... Sentence Expires on July 20
The third parole hearing this year 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 8th.
The Ministry of Justice Parole Review Committee will hold its regular May hearing at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the same day to discuss whether to grant parole to Choi.
The review committee, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Justice, consists of between five and 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.
Currently, the committee is composed of four internal members: Deputy Minister of Justice Shim Woo-jung, Prosecutor General Kwon Soon-jung, Director of Corrections Shin Yong-hae, and Director of Crime Prevention Policy Yoon Woong-jang; and five external members: Professor Joo Hyun-kyung of Chungnam National University Law School, Lawyer Kim Yong-jin of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, Professor Cho Yoon-oh of Dongguk University Police and Judicial College, Chief Judge Kim Dae-woong of the Seoul High Court, and Professor Oh Kyung-sik of Gangneung-Wonju National University Department of Law.
Under current law, inmates who have served at least one-third of their sentence are eligible for parole, so Choi, who has served 80% of her sentence, is included in the parole review. Her sentence expires on July 20. If Choi is selected for parole in this hearing, she will be released on the 14th. She is currently incarcerated at Seoul Eastern Detention Center.
The committee ruled Choi ineligible for parole in February this year but deferred the decision at the regular parole hearing held last month. If deemed ineligible, she would be excluded from next month’s review, but a deferred decision automatically makes her subject to the next month’s hearing.
Choi was indicted on charges of forging a balance certificate to make it appear that approximately 34.9 billion won was deposited in a savings bank in four installments from April 1 to October 11, 2013, during the purchase of land in Dochon-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province.
She is also accused of colluding with business partner Ahn Mo to submit the forged balance certificate to the court in a lawsuit filed on August 7, 2013, demanding the return of a deposit related to the Dochon-dong land.
The first trial sentenced Choi to one year in prison but did not order her 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.
On the other hand, the second trial court ordered her immediate detention, stating that "the right to defense was sufficiently guaranteed up to the appeal trial, and the nature of the crime is very serious." The Supreme Court upheld the second trial’s ruling.
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