Foreign media: Park Geun-hye's release from prison is happy and some are worried

According to Yonhap News Agency Seoul reported on December 31, 2021, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was granted a special pardon and released at 00:00 on the 31st. At 00:00 on the same day, the Ministry of Justice went through the pardon procedure at Samsung Seoul Hospital. The director of the Seoul Detention Center and others presented Park Geun-hye with a certificate of pardon and reinstatement. The certificate contains Park Geun-hye's name, citizenship number, crime, sentence name, and sentence. The Education and Rehabilitation Department evacuated three to four judicial police officers stationed in the wards and completed the pardon process.

It is reported that Park Geun-hye's health deteriorated when serving a sentence in the Seoul Detention Center, and Minister of Justice Park Fan-jae said on the 29th that he re-read the doctor's opinions issued by the three departments of the hospital, and took into account Park Geun-hye's hospitalization in the hospital, and made a pardon decision.

According to South Korea's "East Asia Daily" website reported on December 31, 2021, hundreds of Park Geun-hye's supporters held a rally to welcome pardon and pray for recovery in front of Samsung Seoul Hospital at 7 p.m. on the 30th. The sidewalk in front of Samsung Seoul Hospital is lined with hundreds of garlands sent by supporters.

But with huge treatment fees becoming a burden and no place to live, Ms. Park's cronies are struggling. The procuratorate seized Park Geun-hye's house in Neigu-dong and handed it over to the auction company to enforce the fine and the unpaid recovery. It is reported that Park Geun-hye's trusted lawyer Yoo Young-ha and Park Geun-hye's brother are also inquiring about the residence, but it is not certain whether Park Geun-hye will accept it.

In addition, according to Reuters Seoul reported on December 31, 2021, after serving nearly 5 years in prison for corruption, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was released on the 31st, which triggered a debate about whether she would play any role before the presidential election in March 2022.

Ms. Park, 69, was released on the occasion of a tense presidential campaign between her former party, the main opposition National Forces party, and Moon Jae-in's Democratic Party. It is unclear whether Park Geun-hye will resume any political activity, but in her memoirs published on the 30th, she said that there was a political motivation for her guilty verdict and that she hoped to "see the people again one day."

Source: Reference News Network