Singer Kim Ho-joong released on parole after drunk hit-and-run conviction

▲ Singer Kim Ho-joong is released on parole from Somang Correctional Institution in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on June 30, 2026, in this press pool photo. Kim was convicted after fleeing the scene of a 2024 drunk-driving crash and having his manager falsely confess to the accident. (Yonhap)

YEOJU, Gyeonggi Provice, June 30 (Yonhap) -- Singer Kim Ho-joong, who had been serving a prison sentence for a drunk hit-and-run accident at Somang Correctional Institution in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, was released on parole Tuesday.

Kim left the correctional facility in a passenger car around 10 a.m. without appearing before about 30 reporters waiting outside the main gate.

Before getting into the vehicle, Kim was briefly captured by news cameras wearing a black suit and a face mask.

About 70 fans dressed in purple gathered along the road outside the prison holding banners reading, "You really went through a lot. We love you," and "We've been waiting. Let's be happy now."

Kim's agency announced on June 23 that he had passed the Justice Ministry's parole review.

His parole allows him to return to society five months earlier than his scheduled release in November.

Kim was indicted and arrested on charges including dangerous driving causing injury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes after allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol on May 9, 2024, crossing the center line on Apgujeong-ro in Seoul's Gangnam district, crashing into an oncoming taxi and fleeing the scene. He was also accused of having his manager, surnamed Jang, falsely surrender to police on his behalf.

Kim initially denied driving under the influence but admitted the offense 10 days after the accident.

Prosecutors later dropped the drunk driving charge at the indictment stage, determining that it was difficult to establish his exact blood alcohol level at the time of the accident based solely on retroactive calculations. Instead, they charged him with dangerous driving causing injury and fleeing the scene under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Both the district and appellate courts sentenced Kim to two years and six months in prison. The sentence became final after he withdrew his appeal to the Supreme Court of Korea.

After initially being held at the Seoul Detention Center, Kim was transferred in August last year to Somang Correctional Institution, South Korea's only privately operated prison, where he served the remainder of his sentence until his parole.