Trot singer Kim Ho-joong released on parole, vows to 'rise again no matter what'

Trot singer Kim Ho-joong walked free on Tuesday, released on parole about five months ahead of schedule after serving time for a drunk-driving hit-and-run that grew into a major public scandal in 2024.

Kim left Somang Correctional Institution, Korea's first private correctional facility, in Yeoju, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday morning. He left the facility without issuing a statement or speaking to the fans who gathered outside. 

On May 9, 2024, Kim drove under the influence and crossed the centerline on a road in Apgujeong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, and struck a taxi coming the other way. He fled the scene and then had his manager surrender to the police in his place. He was subsequently detained and indicted.

In the immediate aftermath, Kim and his agency denied that alcohol was involved, only to acknowledge it after 10 days. 

Kim was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, a term upheld on appeal that set his release for November. A recent parole approval by the Ministry of Justice moved it up by about five months.

Under Korean law, inmates generally become eligible to apply for parole after serving at least one-third of their sentence, provided they behave well and pose little risk of reoffending. Ministry of Justice guidelines further require that an inmate serve at least 60 percent of a sentence before coming up for preliminary parole review.

Kim had signaled his intention to return in a handwritten letter posted to his official fan cafe, Tbaroti, on April 1.

"Nearly two years have passed in this time of guilt," he wrote. "I will carve my wrongdoing into my bones and keep it there. I will rise again no matter what, and I will sing."

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]