Actor Son Seung Won jailed for one year over fifth drunk driving offence and evidence tampering attempt

Actor Son Seung Won was taken into custody on June 11 after being sentenced to one year in prison for his fifth drunk driving offence.

The ruling was delivered by Judge Kim Hyung Seok of the Seoul Western District Court’s Criminal Division 5, who found Son guilty of violating the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving) and of instructing the destruction or concealment of evidence. The court ordered his immediate detention, citing concerns that he might flee.

Son’s girlfriend, Ms. Kim, who was also indicted for assisting in concealing evidence, received a suspended sentence with a 1.5 million KRW (about 980 USD) fine.

The court described Son’s conduct as serious, pointing not only to the repeated drunk driving offences but also to his instruction to his girlfriend to remove and conceal black box (dashcam) footage. The judge also noted that Son’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of arrest was about twice the legal limit for license revocation, and that he had multiple prior alcohol-related convictions.

However, mitigating factors were also considered, including his admission of guilt, the submission of dashcam footage to investigators, the fact that no traffic accident occurred, and pleas for leniency from family and acquaintances.

The case stems from an incident in November last year, when Son was arrested after driving in the wrong direction on the Gangbyeon Expressway while heavily intoxicated. During the police investigation, he falsely claimed that a designated driver had abandoned the vehicle and later attempted to have his girlfriend delete dashcam footage to conceal evidence.

In 2018, Son was previously sentenced to one year and six months in prison for a separate drunk driving case involving a hit-and-run collision with a taxi and a subsequent crash. At that time, he was charged under the so-called “Yoon Chang Ho Act,” which imposes stricter penalties for dangerous driving causing injury.