Governor Hochul Pardons Korean-Born U.S. Veteran Sae Joon Park, Opening Path to Return

New York Governor Kathy Hochul erased two New York convictions—second-degree bail jumping (2009) and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (2007)—for Sae Joon Park, a 57-year-old Korean-born U.S. Army veteran. The pardon does not itself restore Park’s ability to re-enter the United States, but it gives his legal team grounds to seek vacating the removal order before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

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Park arrived in the United States at age 7 and joined the Army at 19, serving in the 1989 invasion of Panama where he was wounded twice and earned a Purple Heart. After discharge he struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, leading to drug use and the 2007 and 2009 convictions that triggered an aggravated-felony removal order. In June 2025 ICE warned he would be detained and deported if he remained, so he self-deported to Busan, South Korea, while his family stayed in Hawaii.

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• Criminal convictions erased: bail jumping (2009) and drug possession (2007).

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• Military service: Panama, 1989; wounded twice; Purple Heart.

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• Family left behind: two adult children and an elderly mother.

NPR

• U.S. residence: roughly 49 years before self-deportation.

CNN

Attorney Danicole Ramos of the University of Hawaii’s Refugee & Immigration Law Clinic called the pardon “a tremendous step forward” that gives Park “renewed hope” to return. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Rep. Seth Magaziner at a December hearing she would “absolutely look at his case,” indicating federal awareness.

NPR

Park expressed gratitude, saying he “still cannot believe this has happened” and that he “prays every night” about the possibility of never returning home.

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• “I still cannot believe this has happened. I am incredibly grateful to Governor Hochul for giving me this chance and for recognizing that I am more than the mistakes I made many years ago,” — Sae Joon Park

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• “Will you commit to at least looking at Mr. Park's case to see if you can help him find a pathway back to this country that he sacrificed so much for?” — Rep. Seth Magaziner

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• “I pray every night, and that’s always in the back of my mind that there’s a good chance that I could never make it home,” — Sae Joon Park

KHNL - Hawaii News Now

Park’s attorneys will file a petition with the Board of Immigration Appeals to vacate the removal order, using the governor’s pardon as the basis for relief. The petition’s outcome will determine whether Park can legally return to the United States.

NPR