No Special Holiday Meals This Year... Yoon Couple to Spend Chuseok in Detention Center

Meals Served as 'Regular Menu' Without Special Dishes
Former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye Received Holiday Specials

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse Kim Keon-hee. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee will both be spending Chuseok in detention, and this year, the special holiday meals that are typically provided have been excluded from the Chuseok menu.

According to the Ministry of Justice on October 2, both the Seoul Detention Center, where former President Yoon is being held, and the Seoul Southern Detention Center, where Kim Keon-hee is detained, will serve regular meals on Chuseok without any special holiday dishes.

At the Seoul Detention Center, where former President Yoon is incarcerated, the breakfast menu for Chuseok Day includes a mini cheese bun, a boiled egg, mixed nuts, and soy milk. For lunch, tofu udon soup, braised pork ribs, seasoned pickled chili, and napa cabbage kimchi will be served. Dinner will feature beef and radish soup, braised mackerel with kimchi, dried seaweed with sauce, and fermented milk.

Meal menus for Chuseok Day at Seoul Detention Center (above) and Seoul Southern Detention Center. Seoul Detention Center Seoul Southern Detention Center

At the Seoul Southern Detention Center, where Kim Keon-hee is held, the Chuseok Day breakfast menu includes tofu kimchi soup, stir-fried pickled vegetables, stir-fried seaweed flakes, and young radish kimchi. For lunch, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean paste stew), a fried egg, seasoned vegetables, and radish salad will be served. Dinner will consist of spicy beef soup, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables), braised young radish in soybean paste, and napa cabbage kimchi.

Chuseok Menus for Former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye Included Mango Juice and Yakgwa

In the past, former presidents who spent holidays in detention centers were provided with special holiday meals. Former President Lee Myung-bak received mango juice, brown rice assorted gangjeong (crispy rice snacks), and yakgwa (honey cookies) at Anyang Prison, while former President Park Geun-hye received similar special dishes at the Seoul Detention Center.

Although no special Chuseok meals were provided to former President Yoon and his wife, they did receive special meals for Liberation Day on August 15. Former President Yoon was served Carbo Buldak Bokkeum Myeon (spicy carbonara chicken stir-fried noodles) and Seolleim ice cream, while Kim Keon-hee received patbingsu (shaved ice with red beans) and black soybean soy milk.

The provision of special meals in correctional facilities is based on Article 29 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Execution of Sentences and Treatment of Inmates. This provision allows for special meals to be served on national holidays or days of similar significance.