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South Gyeongsang Province Govt. Kim Kyoung-soo heads to his office in Changwon, South Korea, on Jul. 20. (Yonhap) |
Former South Gyeongsang Province Govt. Kim Kyoung-soo has said he does not want to be released from prison on parole amid speculation he will be granted a special pardon by President Yoon Suk-yeol later this month.
Kim, who has been serving a two-year sentence on opinion rigging charges, stated his case in a handwritten note posted by his wife on his Facebook page Tuesday, saying he rejects the conditions for parole, which include "clear indications of regret."
"As someone who has maintained his innocence from the start, I have told the Changwon prison many times that it is a condition I cannot accept," he wrote. "But as a request for a parole evaluation was made regardless of my wishes, and is creating unnecessary misunderstanding, I state clearly once again that I do not want parole."
Kim is a close associate of former President Moon Jae-in.
Rep. Ki Dong-min of the main opposition Democratic Party also wrote on his Facebook page the same day that the former governor expressed his firm intention not to be used as an accessory in Yoon's pardoning of imprisoned former President Lee Myung-bak.
Lee, who is serving a 17-year prison term on charges of embezzlement and bribery, is widely expected to be on the list of pardons that will likely take effect Dec. 28.
If Kim, whose sentence ends in May, is paroled without being reinstated, he will be barred from running for election until May 2028. (Yonhap).
