Released on Parole Barely 10 Days after “Three-way Big Deal Rumor”

Controversy is arising on the inclusion of former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong (74) and former President Kim Dae-jung’s second son Kim Hong-up (54) in June’s list of parolees.

The Ministry of Justice stated on June 27 that 709 inmates, including the two mentioned, were selected for parole in June and will be released from prison at 10:00 a.m. on June 30.

Controversy over Preferential Treatment—

Former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong and Kim Hong-up still have quite a bit of their original sentence left to serve.

Kim Hong-up, who was sentenced to two years in prison for accepting solicitation and money from companies and evading donation taxes, will have served one year, six months, and 10 days of this sentence as of June 30. The remaining time is five months and 20 days, in other words he will be released after only serving 76.8 percent of his sentence.

In particular, citing reasons such as treatment for depression, since September 2003, Kim Hong-up has extended his sentence suspension six times over a period of a year and a half, and will be out of jail only 80 days after being re-imprisoned on March 9.

Out of the 709 parolees, former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong has the highest unfinished sentence rate. He will be released after serving the shortest time compared to his total sentence. Although inmates are eligible for parole after serving a third of their sentence, exemplary inmates are usually released on parole after completing 85 percent of their sentence, and average inmates usually serve over 90 percent.

Growing Suspicions on “Kim Un-yong Secret Deal”—

In the case of former IOC Vice President Kim, suspicions are growing with the coincidental omission of a “Kim Un-yong Secret Deal” article in Monthly JoongAng.

Through a statement titled “Speech to the Readers and Korean People,” Monthly JoongAng reporters asserted that the article “The Dangerous Three Way Big Deal between Jacques Rogge, Kim Un-yong, and Cheong Wa Dae” was omitted due to outside pressure.

The omitted article argues that Cheong Wa Dae persuaded Kim, who was willing to disclose the corruption of IOC members if the IOC dismissed Kim as vice president, to voluntarily step down. According to the article, in return, Cheong Wa Dae made a secret deal with IOC President Rogge to support Gangwon Pyeongchang as the next host city for the Winter Olympic Games, and keep taekwondo as an official event in the Olympics.

Jin-Young Hwang buddy@donga.com