Kim Hee-ro, Korean-Japanese Prisoner, to Be Freed Sept.7

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Kim Hee-ro, Korean-Japanese Prisoner, to Be Freed Sept.7

The well-known Korean-Japanese prisoner Kim Hee-ro will reportedly be freed on September 7 after serving 31 years at several jailhouses in Japan.
His guardian Park Sam-jung, head monk of Jabisa in Pusan, said on August 25, 'An official at the Justice Ministry in Tokyo informed me two days ago that Kim will be released on parole on September 7 and fly immediately to Seoul.'
The 71-year-old man was arrested on February 20, 1968 after killing two gangsters - or 'yakuja' in Japanese - who were ridiculing and humiliating Korean-Japaneses at a bar, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
At his hearing, he testified that the curses that the gangsters shouted, such as, 'You dirty Korean pigs' caused him to lose control of his temper.
To date, unnacountable petitions have been made for his release here and abroad, but until now the Japanese government refused to set him free.
Kim will return to his fatherland with the remains of his late mother who died at 92 in Japan last November and will reside in an apartment in Pusan arranged by Assemblyman Jung Mong-june.
Shim Shang-bok : simsb@joonhgang.co.kr
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