Actor Son Seung-won, convicted of 5 drunk-driving offenses, heads to appeal court

The first appeal hearing for actor Son Seung-won, sentenced to prison for habitual drunk driving, is set for July 23.

According to legal sources Friday, the First Criminal Division (Appeals) of the Seoul Western District Court will hold the opening session of Son's appeal on July 23, covering charges including violation of the Road Traffic Act and aggravated hit-and-run under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Son received a one-year prison sentence at his first trial on June 11 and was taken into custody in the courtroom. Prosecutors had sought four years and filed an appeal against the ruling, triggering the appellate proceedings.

Son was arrested last November after driving the wrong way on the Gangbyeon Expressway while intoxicated and was indicted in February. His blood alcohol level at the time was 0.165 percent — more than double the 0.08 percent threshold for license revocation.

During the police investigation, Son gave a false statement claiming "the designated driver abandoned the car" and instructed his girlfriend to remove the dashcam storage device from the vehicle. Just before the final hearing, it was also revealed that he had driven to a bar without a license.

The court said Son admitted to all charges and was found guilty. "The defendant was arrested in flagrante delicto while driving the wrong way on the Gangbyeon Expressway in a heavily intoxicated state and instructed his girlfriend, surnamed Kim, to conceal dashcam evidence," the court said. "He also made false statements and had an extremely high blood alcohol level. A prison sentence is therefore unavoidable."

Son was caught drunk driving twice in 2015 alone and received summary orders on both occasions. In August 2017, while under investigation and on trial for allegedly rear-ending a taxi while drunk and fleeing the scene, he caused another accident in late December 2018 — driving drunk without a license.

Son crossed the center line and fled about 150 meters without rendering aid, with a blood alcohol level of 0.206 percent — well above the license revocation threshold. The driver and a passenger in the other vehicle sustained minor injuries.

Police found that Son had pressured a junior acquaintance riding with him to claim to have been the driver, telling him, "If I get caught this time, I'll face serious punishment, so say you were driving instead."

The court applied charges of aggravated injury from dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — commonly known as the Yun Chang-ho Act — and sentenced Son to one year and six months in prison. With the prison term confirmed on appeal, he was also exempted from mandatory military service. The Yun Chang-ho Act stiffens penalties for drunk drivers who cause casualties; Son's case marked the first time it was applied to an entertainer.