'Incitement to Rebellion' Lee Seok-gi Released on Parole After 8 Years and 3 Months... "Barbaric Political Behavior Must Never Happen Again"

Asked about Park Geun-hye's pardon, "Does the word fairness and justice truly exist?"

Former Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki, who was serving a sentence at Daejeon Prison for incitement to rebellion, was released on parole on the 24th, about a year and a half before his full term ended. After being released from Daejeon Prison that morning, Lee greeted his supporters.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Former Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-gi, who was serving a 9-year prison sentence confirmed for charges including incitement of rebellion, was released on parole on the 24th. It has been 8 years and 3 months since he was detained and indicted in September 2013.

At 10 a.m. that day, Lee was released from Daejeon Prison and expressed his feelings to the supporters waiting for him, saying, "I wanted to see you first. It has been a considerable period, but thanks to your unwavering love, support, and trust, I am able to meet you like this," adding, "No words can replace that feeling."

He continued, "I am simply grateful. I would like to greet you with that heart," bowing to the supporters in greeting.

Afterward, Lee openly expressed strong dissatisfaction with his detention. In particular, regarding the pardon of former President Park Geun-hye, who ordered his detention, he mentioned fairness and justice, describing the situation as "lamentable."

He emphasized, "Such barbaric political behavior of imprisoning someone for a long time with just a few words must never happen again."

He added, "Although it is midwinter, spring does not come after this winter passes; rather, spring grows stronger within this winter and overwhelms it, becoming the new spring," and said, "I believe those who create this new spring are the people here."

When asked by reporters about the 'decision to pardon former President Park,' Lee retorted, "Does the word fairness and justice truly exist?"

He went on, "The person who imprisoned a sitting lawmaker through ruthless oppression has been pardoned," and said, "The person who suffered from this is now released on parole, which is truly lamentable."

He said, "Who really deserves to be pardoned? That will be decided in the flow of history."

On the day Lee was released, about 300 members of the Progressive Party and supporters gathered in front of the main gate of Daejeon Prison from early morning to welcome him.

Lee told the welcoming supporters, "Seeing you all, the breath of the wind feels truly different," which drew applause.

Lee was indicted and detained on charges of leading the Revolutionary Organization (RO), which sympathized with North Korea's theory of revolution against South Korea and conspired to carry out concrete acts to overthrow the Republic of Korea's system, inciting rebellion. In 2015, the Supreme Court confirmed his 9-year prison sentence and 7-year disqualification.

Additionally, he was confirmed in 2019 to have embezzled several hundred million won from an election promotion company he operated and fraudulently obtained election reimbursement costs by inflating supply prices during local council and Gyeonggi Province governor elections from 2010 to 2011, resulting in an additional 8-month prison sentence. Consequently, his scheduled release date was extended from September 2022 to May 2023, and he was released 1 year and 5 months before the full term completion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.