Even Convicted Killers Walk Free: 95% of 151 Parolees Were Violent Criminals

It has been revealed that over the past 10 years, 151 inmates serving life sentences were released on parole, with nearly all of them being violent criminals.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Justice to Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young-kyo of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, 151 inmates serving life imprisonment were granted parole from 2017 to September of this year.

Among them, 144 inmates had committed violent crimes such as murder, robbery-homicide, and rape-homicide, accounting for 95% of the total.

As of September this year, 13 individuals have been paroled, all of whom were inmates convicted of murder.

According to Article 72 of the Criminal Act, even if the court judges that permanent isolation from society is necessary and sentences an offender to life imprisonment, parole is possible under certain conditions after serving 20 years or more.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice stated that it does not even separately track the recidivism status of life-imprisonment inmates after their release on parole.

On October 13, in Incheon, an ex-convict who had previously served a four-year prison term for attempted murder went on a weapon rampage while wearing an electronic tracking anklet, injuring 10 people.

As it was revealed that the suspect had previously been punished for violating electronic anklet curfew restrictions and had even been booked on charges of carrying a weapon prior to the rampage, calls are growing for the thorough management of violent criminals.

Lawmaker Seo Young-kyo stated, "Violent crimes must be met with correspondingly severe punishment," adding, "There is a need to permanently isolate criminals whose offenses are heinous and who show little possibility of rehabilitation from society."

Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Kim Ki-hyun | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.