Drinking? R-Sony Kim Ho-joong avoided 30 million won bribery threat to prison guards...the Justice Department's fact-finding mission
Nov 17, 2025
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According to the Ministry of Justice on the 16th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Corrections investigated the situation in which a prison officer A from Somang Prison demanded money from Kim Ho-joong, saying, `Give me 30 million won in return for selecting you to enter Somang Prison.'
It is known that Kim Ho-joong felt pressure that his imprisonment life could be difficult if he did not comply with A's request and confessed that he was threatened in an interview with another prison guard.
In response, the Ministry of Justice launched a fact-finding investigation. The Ministry of Justice judged that A did not affect the process of selecting Kim Ho-joong as an inmate and that no money was ever exchanged. However, under the current law, even if a prison officer at a private prison is also considered a public official in the investigation or trial stage and did not affect the selection, a bribe can be established just by asking for money and goods.
The Somang Prison excluded Mr. A from his duties and is waiting for the results of the investigation by the Ministry of Justice.
Kim Ho-joong is accused of driving his Bentley vehicle while drunk in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in May 2024 after colliding with a taxi that was standing opposite him across the central line. There is also a charge of urging manager B to turn himself in on behalf of him after the accident. In May, Kim Ho-joong was arrested and charged with running away due to dangerous driving injuries under the Specific Crime Weighted Penalty Act, non-action after accident under the Road Traffic Act, and criminal escape teacher. However, the charge of drunk driving was excluded on the grounds that it was difficult for Kim Ho-joong to judge blood alcohol levels only by turning himself in after a long time after the incident and reverse calculation.
The first trial court sentenced Kim Ho-joong to two and a half years in prison. Both the prosecution and Kim Ho-joong appealed, but they were rejected. Kim Ho-joong appealed, but the original trial was confirmed as the appeal was withdrawn on May 15. Later, Kim Ho-joong left the Seoul Detention Center in August and was transferred to the Somang Prison.
Somang Prison is the only private prison in Korea. In this place, a man who is sentenced to seven years or less in prison and has a remaining sentence of more than one year, two convictions or less, and a prisoner other than a drug, public security, organized violence, can be admitted according to the Ministry of Justice's selection if he wishes.
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