[BODY]
Actor Son Seung-won, 36, widely known as the "first celebrity punished under the Yoon Chang-ho Act," was sentenced to prison in a first trial and taken into custody in court over his fifth drunk-driving offense.
Kim Hyung-seok, a senior judge of Seoul Western District Court's Criminal Division 5, sentenced Son to one year in prison on Nov. 11 on charges including drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act. His girlfriend, identified only as Kim, 30, who was also indicted on charges of helping him hide evidence, received a suspended sentence of a 1.5 million won fine.
Son was accused of driving the wrong way along Gangbyeonbuk-ro for about two minutes while heavily intoxicated last November. He was arrested at the scene at the time and indicted in February. His blood alcohol level was found to be more than double the 0.08% threshold for license revocation. During the police investigation, he reportedly claimed that "the substitute driver abandoned the car" and instructed his girlfriend to hide the dashcam.
The court noted that "after driving while drunk and being arrested in the act, he instructed his girlfriend to hide evidence such as the dashcam, making the offense grave." It added, "He drove the wrong way while heavily intoxicated, denied the crime after being caught, and even made false statements," and stated that "the high blood alcohol level and multiple prior convictions of the same kind were also taken into account." However, the court considered as favorable circumstances that he eventually admitted the charges, that no actual accident resulted, and that he submitted related materials after the evidence concealment was discovered.
Son was taken into custody in court on the grounds that he posed "a risk of flight." Immediately after the sentencing, Son said, "I deeply reflect on and regret the wrongs I committed," while appealing, "My family will suffer the burden of supporting our livelihood, so please allow me to prepare for the appeal without being detained," but the request was not accepted.
Son had previously received summary orders twice in 2015 alone for drunk driving. In 2018, while under investigation for hitting a taxi while intoxicated, he again caused an accident with a blood alcohol level at the license-revocation level. At the time, the court applied the charge of dangerous driving causing injury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, known as the Yoon Chang-ho Act, and sentenced him to one year and six months in prison. It was the first case in which the law, which strengthened punishment for drunk-driving accidents, was applied to a celebrity.
