Parole Decision for President’s Mother-in-Law: Politics or Justice?

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On May 8th, Parent’s Day, the Ministry of Justice deemed Choi Eun Soon, the mother-in-law of President Yoon Suk Yeol, eligible for parole. If Choi receives final approval from the Minister of Justice, Park Sung Jae, she will be released on May 14th.

There’s an ongoing debate in the political sphere over whether the president’s mother-in-law received special treatment. When asked about the issue, OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3.5 had an unexpected response.

The AI stated, “Whether the parole of President Yoon’s mother-in-law, who committed a $29 million balance fraud, is appropriate depends on various factors,” adding, “Generally, the severity of the crime, the duration of imprisonment, and the risk of recidivism are considered, and sometimes public opinion can also have an impact.”

The AI further explained, “It is important to consider what role Yoon Suk Yeol, the former Prosecutor General, played in this case, and whether his involvement affected the legality and fairness of the issue.” It seemed to judge that the president’s involvement in the case was a point of contention.

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The Ministry of Justice held a parole review committee meeting at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Building in the afternoon of the day they made the eligibility decision, to determine the parole eligibility of Choi and other prisoners.

The Ministry of Justice stated, “Taking into account various details including age, sentence served, correctional records, health status, and risk of recidivism, a unanimous decision was made on her eligibility.” The Ministry reviewed the parole of a total of 1,140 inmates, and pending the Minister’s approval, decided on parole for a final list of 650 individuals, including Choi.

Minister Park is expected to give final approval to the parole candidates after receiving the review results from the parole review committee. Once the final approval is complete, Choi and other prisoners will be released at 10 a.m. on May 14th.

Choi previously met the parole requirements by serving 80% of her sentence, with the original end date being July 20th.

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The Ministry of Justice said, “Choi has been a candidate for parole before, but she has consistently expressed that she does not want to cause public concern by becoming a subject of controversy through parole.” However, it is unusual for the Ministry of Justice to provide additional explanations about an individual’s parole.

This is the third time Choi has been considered for parole, and she has now passed the eligibility review.

Choi was put on trial last year (2023) on charges of forging a bank balance certificate in a real estate transaction, which led to an appeal. She was arrested in court during the appeal, and the Supreme Court confirmed her final conviction in November of the same year.

She had forged a certificate to appear as if approximately $29 million was deposited in a savings bank account to purchase land in Dochong-dong, Seongnam City. The forgeries carried out systematically over four instances from April 1 to October 11, 2013, had been criticized by the public.

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The political world is heated over the parole decision of the Ministry of Justice’s parole review committee.

The opposition party raised a question and sarcastically commented, “Is this a Parent’s Day gift?” implying that President Yoon might be giving a “Parent’s Day gift” to his mother-in-law. Hwang Jung Ah, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, released a statement titled, “The Ministry of Justice has sent a warm Parent’s Day gift to the President’s mother-in-law.”

Spokesperson Hwang said, “The fairness and common sense that the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has consistently advocated have once again knelt before injustice and absurdity,” and “there was a basement below the floor,” continuing her strong criticism.

Hwang also said, “It’s absurd that the Ministry of Justice, with pro-Yoon Minister Park Sung Jae, is directly delivering a Parent’s Day gift to the mother-in-law. It blatantly shows the current state of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration privatizing the national power that should be used publicly.”

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Hwang Jung Ah continued, “If the Ministry of Justice were a normal group, it should have shown firmly that no privilege exists before the law through a more strict decision on such a serious matter involving the president’s family. However, the Ministry of Justice was only concerned with pleasing the president, and only promoted privilege and cheating for the president.”

Kim Bo Hyeop, the National Innovation Party, also released a statement saying, “Congratulations to President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee,” and remarked, “The decision to parole Choi as a Parent’s Day gift is supreme.” Kim also warned, “When the 22nd National Assembly begins, we will thoroughly review whether there was any problem in the process of deciding Choi’s parole. If we find any issues, we will call all related parties to the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee to question them and reveal the truth.”

With a majority opposition continuing into the 22nd National Assembly, increased checks on President Yoon are expected.