[Our News] Park, Beom-gye, a Member of Congress, Presented a Claim Concerning Jung Myeong Seok’s Special Privileges in Prison. The Ministry of Justice Explained, “It is Not True.”

Content from the report that quoted some of what  Congressman Park  claimed regarding Jung Myeong Seok’s special privileges (Seoul Newspaper pg. 8, Society Section)   

Data from the results of the investigation made by the Ministry of Justice, for the purpose of explanation.

He received medical treatment from outside facilities 17 times between May, 2009 and August, 2013. It is considered to be an excessive privilege compared with other prisoners who only receive outside medical treatment 0.5 times each year.      

- While it is true that Jung Myeong Seok received medical treatment from outside facilities 17 times between May, 2009 and August, 2013, because he had a chronic gum disease that was difficult to treat at the correction facility, it was inevitable that he would receive medical treatment from the outside.

- The statistic that states that a regular prisoner receives medical treatment from outside facilities 0.5 times each year is just a simple numerical value obtained by dividing the total number of cases of medical treatment received from outside facilities by the total number of prisoners. In addition, the number of cases of medical treatment being received from outside facilities is actually much higher for prisoners who are suffering from disease.

As the lawyer interviewed Mr. Jung, the lawyer recorded sermons and operated JMS by delivering them to the church. The sermon documents were posted on their website once or twice each week, a total of 302 times.    

Jung Myeong Seok was interviewed by his lawyer a total of 74 times during the period of his trial for rape and fraud. The interviews took place under the watch of the prison officer, who was within eyesight. It is impossible to record every interview, and, after December, 2012, when the trial ended, no more interviews were held with the lawyer.”

- Through the process of determining truth, we confirmed that Jung Myeong Seok wrote sermons inside his cell in the form of letters and mailed them out, and then the church members posted [them] on the websites of Christian Gospel Mission, as well as other sites.

Using medical treatments as an excuse, he went out frequently and contacted his church members, and often borrowed phones from three prison officers in order to make outbound calls.      

It is impossible for anyone besides medical staff to contact people outside the prison because medical treatment received from outside [facilities] are carried out under strict and safe custody of more than three prison officers.

An investigation into the truth regarding him living a luxurious life in prison due to his religious status is needed. 

As a result of the investigation into the truth concerning Daejeon prison, Jung Myeong Seok has strongly denied receiving or using a phone from a prison officer and has stated that he will consider taking legal action against the media reporters that reported without confirming the truth.

- Currently, a higher authority, Daejeon Local Correction Agency, is investigating the truth concerning the things related to the report about [Jung Myeong Seok] receiving a phone and the suspicion that he used it.