A U.S. Army veteran who self-deported to South Korea last year has been pardoned for the crimes that led him to leave the country.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, on Friday pardoned Sae Joon Park, a 57-year-old who was born in South Korea and had lived in the U.S. since he was 7, erasing two convictions he had in the state. She also pardoned five other individuals in the state.
“Today, I am granting clemency to six individuals who have displayed positive changes in their lives and will dedicate themselves to bettering their communities—they earned their second chance through rehabilitation and can now establish their futures once again,” Hochul said in a statement.
Park’s convictions were bail jumping in the second degree in 2009, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree in 2007.
He self-deported when immigration officers threatened to arrest him at a scheduled immigration check-in in June 2025 because of his prior criminal convictions, he claimed, adding that immigration officials said that if he did not self-deport they would detain him instead.
Park’s attorney, Danicole Ramos, said that while the pardon does not automatically mean Park can return to the U.S., it may give him grounds to have his removal order vacated.
“I still cannot believe this has happened. I am incredibly grateful to Gov. Hochul for giving me this chance and for recognizing that I am more than the mistakes I made many years ago,” Park said in a statement that Ramos issued.
Park’s Military Service and Post-Service Life
Park, who joined the military after graduating from high school, received a Purple Heart for his service in Operation Just Cause in 1989 to overthrow Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.
He told NPR in 2025 that soldiers ambushed his platoon one day while they were eating lunch. Panamanian soldiers opened fire, and Park, attempting to return fire, was shot in the back.
“I realized I was shot,” he told NPR. “So, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m paralyzed.’ And then thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m not just paralyzed. I’m dying right now.’”
One of the bullets hit his dog tag and Park recovered from his wounds. But he developed PTSD and began abusing crack cocaine.
“This pardon represents a tremendous step forward and gives Mr. Park and his family renewed hope that, after more than a year of separation, he may one day be able to return to the country he has called home since childhood and for which he put his life on the line,” Ramos told NPR.
Skipping a court hearing after an arrest for trying to purchase drugs led to the charges of drug possession and bail jumping.
Park now lives in Busan. He left his two children, a son, 29, and a daughter, 25, both living in the U.S.
“I know there is still work ahead, but today I have hope that I may finally be able to come home,” he added in his statement. “I want to thank my legal team, everyone who advocated for me, and the thousands of people who have supported me and my family. I will never forget what you have done for me.”
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