Kim Ho-joong’s 2.5-Year Prison Sentence Finalized by Supreme Court Over Drunk Hit-and-Run Incident
May 20, 2025
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Kim Ho-joong submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court on the 19th. Accordingly, the sentence of two and a half years in prison sentenced by the second trial court was confirmed as it was.
Since Kim Ho-joong has been under arrest since May last year, he is expected to be released from prison in November next year if he serves all of his sentences.
Kim Ho-joong is suspected of hitting a taxi on the other side of the road and running away at around 11:40 p.m. on May 9 last year while driving under the influence of alcohol on the road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. In the process, Kim Ho-joong's agency, Thinking Entertainment's former CEO Lee Kwang-deuk, and former head of the headquarters are accused of urging their managers to make false embroideries and deleting evidence such as black box videos.
However, since Kim Ho-joong attended the police 17 hours after the incident and was investigated, it was difficult to determine the exact drinking level at the time of the accident with the Weedmark formula, which calculates the blood alcohol level, so the drunk driving charge was not applied under the Road Traffic Act.
The first trial sentenced Kim Ho-joong to two and a half years in prison on charges of dangerous driving injuries, escape injuries, non-action after accidents under the Road Traffic Act, and criminal escape teachers under the Specific Crime Aggravated Punishment Act.
Kim Ho-joong immediately appealed. He strongly denied the 'drinking' method at the appeal trial and expressed his unfairness, saying that the taxi crash was also due to mobile phone manipulation, not alcohol consumption. He also appealed for leniency by submitting more than 130 letters of apology.
However, the second trial court also sentenced him to two and a half years in prison. The court said "The amount of alcohol consumed on the day of the incident was considerable, so it cannot be considered that the accident was caused by simple mobile phone manipulation. It is believed that drinking significantly reduced thinking and judgment, causing the accident. When I met Jeon, who was supposed to turn himself in as a proxy, and called the manager, I was with him and called the manager to ask for it. He met Jang, changed his top and left the scene, and left a false phone call with Jang. The nature of the crime, such as accidents and escape, is poor, and the situation after the crime is not good enough.
Kim Ho-joong submitted an appeal on the 1st and continued to review it with legal experts, including large law firms. However, he eventually gave up his appeal. In response, Kim Ho-joong's fan club decided to give up his appeal after a long and deep thought. We will respect that judgment, remain unwavering and prepare for the return together" he said.
silk781220@sportschosun.com
