‘Forgery of Balance Certificate’ President Yoon’s Mother-in-law Choi Eun-soon Released on Parole

Choi Eun-soon, mother-in-law of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was serving a one-year prison sentence confirmed for forging a balance certificate, was released on parole on the 14th.

Choi Eun-soon, the mother-in-law of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who served a one-year prison sentence for forging a bank balance certificate, was released on parole on the 14th from the Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Choi was released about two months early after serving 80% of her total sentence. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Around 10 a.m. that day, Choi, who came out of the Seoul Eastern Detention Center, did not respond to reporters' questions such as "What do you think about the controversy over self-parole?", "Do you think this parole is a burden to the president?", and "Do you still not admit the charges?" and got into a waiting vehicle in front of the main gate.

Choi was indicted on charges of forging a balance certificate to make it appear that about 34.9 billion won was deposited in a savings bank in four installments from April 1 to October 11, 2013, during the process of purchasing land in Dochon-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province.

She is also accused of conspiring with business partner Ahn to file a lawsuit on August 7, 2013, to claim the return of the deposit related to the Dochon-dong land and submitting the forged balance certificate to the court.

The first trial sentenced Choi to one year in prison but did not detain her in court. This was considering that she was released on bail during the appeal process of a separate trial for 'fraudulent receipt of nursing benefits.' Later, Choi was acquitted by the Supreme Court on the charge of fraudulent receipt of nursing benefits.

On the other hand, the second trial detained Choi in court, stating that "the right to defense was sufficiently guaranteed until the appeal trial, and the nature of the crime is very bad." The Supreme Court also agreed with the second trial's judgment.

Choi was up for parole review in February but was judged 'ineligible' and excluded from the March review. In the April review, the decision was 'review deferred.' Subsequently, the parole review committee held on the 8th unanimously decided that Choi was eligible for parole. Choi's full release date was July 20.