'Five-time drunk driving' actor Son Seung-won, sentenced to one year in prison; Prosecution Service appeals.. First appeal trial today (23rd)

*This content was translated by AI.

The first appeal trial for actor Son Seung-won, who was brought to court on charges of drunk driving for the fifth time, is scheduled to be held.

On the 23rd, Seoul Western District Court's First Criminal Division (Appeal) (Na) will hold the first appeal trial for Son Seung-won on charges including violation of the Road Traffic Act (causing injury while fleeing under the Act on Special Cases Concerning Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes).

Son Seung-won was arrested in flagrante delicto last November after driving against traffic on Gangbyeon Boulevard for about two minutes while heavily intoxicated, and was brought to trial in February this year. It is reported that his blood alcohol concentration at the time was 0.165%, more than double the threshold for license revocation (0.08%).

Immediately after the accident, he lied to police, claiming that a hired driver who had started a quarrel abandoned the car and left, and instructed his girlfriend to remove the black box storage device from his car at the Yongsan Police Station, among other attempts to destroy evidence.

Accordingly, during the trial on the merits, the Prosecution Service sought a four-year prison sentence. However, in a sentencing hearing held last month on the 11th, the court sentenced Son Seung-won to one year in prison and ordered his detention in custody. The Prosecution Service has appealed this decision, leading to the resumption of the trial.

Meanwhile, this marks the fifth time Son Seung-won was caught drunk driving. Previously, in 2018, he was indicted for drunk driving in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where he collided with a vehicle ahead and fled, and was sentenced to one year and six months in prison. At that time, Son Seung-won's license had already been revoked three times due to drunk driving offenses.

At that time, the court applied what is known as the 'Yoon Chang-ho Law' (amended Act on Special Cases Concerning Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and Road Traffic Act), which increased penalties for drivers who caused personal injury through drunk driving. Son Seung-won was caught drunk driving the month after the Yoon Chang-ho Law passed the National Assembly, making him the first entertainer to be punished under this law.

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*This content was translated by AI.