Singer Kim Ho-joong released on parole five months early

South Korean singer Kim Ho-joong has been released on parole, five months earlier than his original sentence was set to conclude. He left the Somang Prison in Yeoju on Monday morning, having served approximately 80% of his two-and-a-half-year sentence.

Kim was convicted on charges including drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident after crashing his vehicle into a taxi on a Seoul road in May 2024. The incident drew significant public anger, particularly after it emerged that Kim had allegedly arranged for his agency manager to falsely confess to the crime and that he had continued drinking after the accident in an attempt to obscure his intoxication.

His prison term was finalized after he dropped his appeal to the Supreme Court, following the appellate court's upholding of his initial sentence. Kim will be under probation for the remainder of his sentence. His potential return to the music industry remains a subject of public attention.