2 former Samsung execs under review for March 1 day parole

Two former top executives of Samsung Group have been included among candidates for the upcoming independence movement day parole, sources said Monday.

Choi Gee-sung, former head of Samsung's now-disbanded control tower Future Strategy Office, and Chang Choong-ki, former deputy chief of the office, are among those who may be granted parole by the Ministry of Justice in celebration of the March 1 Independence Movement Day, the sources told Yonhap News Agency.

The ministry plans to discuss whether to release Choi, 71, and Chang, 68, on parole in time for the March 1 day during a parole review committee meeting to be presided over by its vice minister at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, they said.

The two were initially screened for parole in an earlier committee meeting last Tuesday but the decision was reportedly put on hold at that time.

Choi and Chang are now serving the same prison term of 2 1/2 years after being convicted of delivering bribes to former President Park Geun-hye and her close friend Choi Soon-sil in return for the government's help in tightening Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's control over Samsung Group. Their prison terms will end in July next year.

Lee was also given the same prison sentence on the same charges but was released on parole ahead of last year's Aug. 15 Liberation Day.

Prison inmates can be eligible for parole after a third of their sentences expire.

Meanwhile, the sources said Park's former finance minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who was sentenced to five years in prison for taking bribes from the National Intelligence Service, has also been included among the candidates for the March 1 day parole. (Yonhap)