hankyoreh

A U.S. soldier sentenced in 1992 to a 15-year jail term for the brutal murder of Yun Geum-i, a waitress at a club in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, was confirmed to have been released on parole on August 14. Yun was 26 years old when she was killed. A controversy has been raised over the appropriateness of the quick parole of Kenneth L. Markle, 34, as the murder was especially brutal and Markle has since been involved in a disturbance while serving his sentence.

Rep. Roh Hoe-chan of the opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP) said on October 27, "I have confirmed that Markle was released on parole and left for the U.S. the next day." His term expires in February 2008; his early parole means he spent 13-and-a-half years behind bars.

The granting of Markle's parole was decided through a meeting of an eight-member judiciary committee led by Vice Justice Minister Jeong Dong-gi. Under the related rules, among inmates who served more than a third of their terms, those who are not likely to commit another crime can recieve parole.

But Markle created a disturbance in prison in 1995, for which he was fined 2 million won (US$2,000). Markle had previously requested parole seven times, but the Justice Ministry had rejected his appeals. The Justice Ministry did not disclose the record of Markle's most recent successful parole hearing, nor the identities of those on the eight-member judiciary committee.

In connection with Markle being freed after less than 14 years in prison, the ministry explained that he served 90 percent of his term and he and Yun's family reached an agreement after he paid them a large compensation. Yun's family also received about 71 million won (US$72,000) from the U.S. government in August 1993.

Markle, who belonged to the U.S. Army Second Division, bludgeoned Yun and then sodomized her with several foreign objects on October 28, 1991, after a quarrel at Yun's house. Markle was sentenced to life imprisonment at his first trial in April 1993, but his term was reduced to 15 years, a reduction by the court because Yun's family had received the compensation from the U.S. administration. Markle has been serving his term at a jail in Cheonan since May 1994.