Around this time next year, singer Kim Ho-joong, who is serving time for a drunk driving hit-and-run, will have finished paying his debt to society and be released.
Kim Ho-joong is accused of crashing into a taxi while driving on a road in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, in May last year, fleeing the scene and having his manager make a false confession. Kim Ho-joong appeared before police 17 hours after the accident, but he was suspected of deliberately drinking more alcohol, a "sulta" tactic to avoid punishment for drunk driving.
Sentenced to three years and six months in prison at the first trial in November last year, Kim Ho-joong appealed, and at the second trial he pleaded for leniency, saying, "I know this crime will never be erased. I will live a different life from before using this incident as a catalyst," but the appeal was dismissed, and by abandoning a further appeal the two years and six months prison term was maintained.
Updates on Kim Ho-joong, who is serving time, have been revealed by those who visited him. First, Kim Ho-joong, who had been serving his sentence at Seoul Detention Center, was transferred to Somang Prison in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. It was reported that the transfer occurred after Kim Ho-joong's request was accepted.
Somang Prison is South Korea's first privately run prison operated by the Christian foundation Agape. Based on Christian faith, it carries out inmate reformation activities and accepts, selected by the Ministry of Justice, some male inmates with up to two prior convictions and sentences of up to seven years, excluding those convicted of drug offenses or organized crime. Kim Ho-joong was originally a Christian, and those close to him reportedly recommended admission to Somang Prison after considering various circumstances.
But during the transfer process Kim Ho-joong was reportedly threatened by a corrections officer. According to recent statements from the Ministry of Justice and corrections authorities, the Seoul Regional Correctional Office confirmed circumstances indicating that corrections officer A at Somang Prison in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, demanded "30 million won because I helped with admission to Somang Prison" from Kim Ho-joong, and launched an investigation.
It is reported that officer A did not actually receive money from Kim Ho-joong. Feeling anxious that "refusal could make prison life difficult," Kim Ho-joong reportedly confided the matter during a meeting with an internal staff member, and investigative procedures began. The Ministry of Justice has received a related report and is conducting an internal affairs investigation into officer A.
The mental distress he endured during incarceration showed on his face. According to accounts from members of a U.S. Korean elder choir who visited and volunteered at Somang Prison in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, last October published by a media outlet, one choir member said, "Last month we performed gospel hymns at Somang Prison, and I remember seeing Kim Ho-joong seated in the second or third row from the front," and added, "He looked fairly healthy, but somehow his expression did not look good. He seemed to have many worries and concerns, which I assumed were due to the vaguely difficult isolated life. Seeing him quietly sing along with the hymns at times made me feel mixed emotions and moved."
Observers say that because this period coincides with when Kim Ho-joong would likely feel psychological pressure worrying about potential disadvantages in prison life if he rejected the corrections officer's demand, his dark expression is understandable.
Kim Ho-joong plans to finish his sentence and sing on stage again. In a handwritten letter disclosed by Song Young-gil, head of Pine Tree Party, he wrote, "I have rediscovered the reason I must be on stage, the reason I must sing. Though my body is confined, I will humbly reflect every day and fill my time."
Kim Ho-joong is scheduled to be released in November 2026.
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