Park Beom-gye "Correctional Facility Occupancy Rate Hits Record Low... Parole Expansion Trend Continues"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, announced on the 22nd that he plans to expand parole to respond to the spread of COVID-19 within correctional facilities.

On the same day, Park met with reporters in front of the Government Gwacheon Complex and said, "A few days ago, due to parole reviews and releases, the occupancy rate of correctional facilities nationwide dropped to 103.1%. This is the first time in the history of our correctional system."

The Ministry of Justice granted parole to 1,031 model prisoners in the first round on the 18th and plans to parole about 1,000 more in the second round on the 28th. The parolees include many COVID-19 vulnerable individuals such as patients and the elderly.

Park said, "To solve the problem of overcrowding caused by COVID-19, there may be one more parole in March in addition to the regular parole," adding, "The scale of parole will continue to expand."

It was confirmed that the second parole review includes Choi Ji-sung, former head of the Future Strategy Office, and Jang Chung-gi, former deputy head (president) of the Future Strategy Office, who are imprisoned for the Park Geun-hye administration's state affairs manipulation case. Regarding this, Minister Park said, "Certain businesspeople are on the review list," but refrained from commenting further, saying, "I have nothing special to say about it."

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