Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Keon Hee to Spend Second Chuseok in Detention; No Special Holiday Meals

[Financial News] Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Keon Hee will spend Chuseok in detention again this year. This will be the second time both have spent the holiday in custody.
No separate special holiday meals will be served at the detention centers where Yoon and Kim are being held. Visits are also generally restricted on public holidays, so the two are expected to remain at their respective detention centers throughout the holiday break.
According to correctional authorities on the 24th, Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi Province, where Yoon is being held, served tteokguk, seasoned seaweed flakes and napa cabbage kimchi for breakfast, the first meal of the holiday break. Lunch consisted of seaweed soup, stir-fried pork and peppers, pickled radish slices and napa cabbage kimchi, while dinner will include Swiss chard doenjang soup, beef bulgogi and napa cabbage kimchi.
The menu for the 25th, Chuseok Day, includes beef bone broth with leafy greens and seasoned dried radish strips for breakfast; aged-kimchi hangover soup, steamed egg and spoonable yogurt for lunch; and sesame ongshimi soup and braised pork for dinner.
Kim is being held at Seoul Southern Detention Center in Guro District, Seoul. On the first morning of the holiday break, she was served beef and radish soup and seasoned perilla leaves. Lunch consisted of soft tofu stew, braised meatballs and seasoned bean sprouts, while dinner included beef bone broth with young napa cabbage, stir-fried pork and peppers, and steamed buns.
On Chuseok Day, breakfast is scheduled to include shiitake and fish cake soup and seasoned dried radish strips. Lunch will consist of cheonggukjang stew, fried fish, mixed vegetables and gochujang. Dinner will feature pork kimchi stew, steamed egg and stir-fried anchovies with shishito peppers.
Whether special meals are provided is governed by law. The Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Execution of Sentences and the Treatment of Inmates stipulates that correctional facility directors "may provide special food on national holidays or days equivalent to them."
However, this is a discretionary provision, meaning that special meals are not mandatory. The Enforcement Rules likewise state that special meals are to be provided "within the limits of the budget."
In the past, Lunar New Year's Day and Chuseok were also regarded as days equivalent to national holidays, and songpyeon or fruit was sometimes provided separately.


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter