Heo Jiwoong Criticizes Yoon’s Life Sentence: "Where Has the Gravity of Acting One’s Age Gone?"

"Recognizing old age? It should have been 'even,' not 'however'"
Yoon receives life sentence in first trial

Entertainer and writer Heo Jiwoong has raised a critical voice over former President Yoon Suk-yeol being sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of leading an insurrection. His remarks are being interpreted as targeting the court, which treated Yoon’s advanced age of over 65 as a mitigating factor.

On the 19th, Heo wrote on his social networking service (SNS), "Where on earth has the gravity of the phrase 'acting your age' gone in this country?"

He continued, "If an 'elderly person with no prior criminal record' stabs someone with a knife, does a serious injury become a minor one, do wounds heal on their own, and do the social costs we had to bear until we caught and punished them get discounted?" He went on to point out, "The court’s goodwill that ought to be applied when someone steals a loaf of bread has been applied to the ringleader of an insurrection."

He added, "We generally expect an 'elderly person with no prior criminal record' to have above-average judgment and ethical standards. Yoon Suk-yeol, the ringleader of the insurrection, flatly betrayed that expectation," and continued, "In that case, the judge’s sentence referring to him as an 'elderly person with no prior criminal record' should not have begun with 'however' but with 'even.' A precedent has now been set that if an elderly public official with no criminal record commits insurrection, it is not a capital offense."

Earlier the same day, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ji Guyon) sentenced former President Yoon, who was indicted on charges of leading an insurrection, to life imprisonment. Judge Ji stated, "The political neutrality of the military and police has been severely undermined, the Republic of Korea’s credibility in the international community has sharply declined, and the nation has been plunged into extreme confrontation."

However, the court considered in Yoon’s favor the fact that he is an elderly person over the age of 65 and that he had long served in public office, and on that basis handed down a life sentence instead of the death penalty sought by prosecutors.