Choi Kyung-hwan, Choi Ji-sung, Jang Choong-ki Pass Parole Review... Release on 17th

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Choi Kyung-hwan (67), a former Liberty Korea Party lawmaker who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance under the Park Geun-hye administration, will be released on parole. Former Samsung Electronics executives Choi Ji-sung (71) and Jang Choong-ki (68), who were imprisoned in connection with the state affairs manipulation scandal, are also scheduled to be paroled on the same day as Choi.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Ministry of Justice decided on the 17th to grant parole to Choi after discussing his parole eligibility at the parole review committee held the previous day.

Choi was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of accepting a bribe of 10 million won from Lee Heon-soo, former director of the National Intelligence Service’s Planning Office, in October 2014. He has currently served about 80% of his sentence.

Choi Ji-sung, former head of the Future Strategy Office, and Jang Choong-ki, former deputy head (president) of the same office, who were imprisoned alongside Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong after being convicted in the state affairs manipulation scandal, are also confirmed to be paroled on the same day as Choi. They were sentenced to two years and six months in prison for bribery and other charges in the retrial of the state affairs manipulation case in January last year and are currently serving their sentences. Lee was released earlier on parole during Liberation Day last year.

Under criminal law, those sentenced to imprisonment with labor can be eligible for parole after serving one-third of their sentence. However, typically, they must meet the execution rate criteria (50% to 90%) to be considered for preliminary parole review.

Choi and others were also reviewed at the parole review committee held on the 15th of last month, but the committee decided to "defer" their cases and conduct a re-examination later.

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