▲ Trot singer Kim Ho-joong wearing a black facial mask is released on parole from a prison in Yeoju, southeast of Seoul, on June 30, 2026, around five months ahead of schedule after serving 767 days in prison for a hit-and-run incident. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) popera singer-parole

(LEAD) Popera singer Kim Ho-joong released on parole after hit-and-run

(ATTN: ADDS singer's statement in last 2 paras)

YEOJU, South Korea, June 30 (Yonhap) -- Popera singer Kim Ho-joong was released on parole Tuesday after serving more than two years in prison for a hit-and-run incident in 2024.

Kim rammed his car into a taxi in the opposite lane while driving drunk on May 9, 2024, fled the scene and made his manager turn himself in.

Prosecutors, however, charged him only with causing injury by driving dangerously and fleeing the scene after determining it was difficult to measure his alcohol level retroactively.

Dozens of fans lined the road as Kim left prison in Yeoju, some 60 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in a car. Some of them held up signs that read, "We love you" and "We have waited for you. Let's be happy now."

The singer was sentenced to a 2 1/2-year prison term and due to be released in November, but his agency said last week that he had recently passed a parole review by the justice ministry.

In a handwritten letter updated on his online fan community, Kim said he will continue to reflect on his actions and take greater responsibility, rather than feel free over leaving prison.

"I will clearly see the situation and the position I face myself in, and live without straying from the right path," the singer wrote.

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