"Chivalrous Thief" Cho Se Hyong Finally Set Free

Cho Se Hyong, the 'big thief', photo, was finally set free from his 16 year-long imprisonment. The Seoul high court ruled in his favor by saying on November 26, 'The possibility of Mr. Cho committing a crime again is very low. He is already in his mid-50s and regrets his past.'
Mr. Cho was first imprisoned in his early teens. He continued a life of crime and moved up to stealing bigger items including diamonds and jewelry.
One of Mr. Cho's specialties was breaking into high ranking officials' houses and stealing large quantities of money and other expensive items which quite often went unreported.
In 1982, he was arrested and sentenced to 15 year in prison and 10 years further in preventive custody. At the time of his arrest, he enjoyed a reputation as the 'chivalrous robber' or 'big thief' by not hurting anybody. He was regarded by some as a modern day Robin Hood, or Korea's equivalent Hong Gil Dong, because he often distributed money to the poor.
Many religious and civilian organizations wanted to help him fit back into society. Cho said, 'I really want to thank the court. In the future, I'll live a new life serving the community through missionary work in order to deter others who want ot become the second or third Cho Se Hyong.'