Charges include obstruction of special official duties

Sentence cut from 4 years to 3 years on appeal

Defendant admitted all charges, expressed remorse at appellate court

Park Jong-jun, former chief of the Presidential Security Service, arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu in July for the first-instance sentencing hearing on charges including obstruction of special official duties. [Yonhap]
Park Jong-jun, former chief of the Presidential Security Service, arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu in July for the first-instance sentencing hearing on charges including obstruction of special official duties. [Yonhap]

Park Jong-jun, former chief of the Presidential Security Service, had his prison sentence reduced to three years on appeal after being convicted of obstructing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials' execution of an arrest warrant against former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Seoul High Court's First Criminal Division, presided over by Chief Judge Yoon Seong-sik, handed down the ruling Wednesday. The sentence is one year shorter than the four-year term imposed at the first trial. Co-defendant Kim Seong-hun, former deputy chief of the security service, had his five-year sentence upheld, while Lee Gwang-u, former head of the presidential protection bureau, received two years, and Kim Sin, former head of the family protection unit, received one year suspended for two years.

The appellate court said Park, as the top official of the Presidential Security Service, had an obligation to ensure the agency operated in accordance with the constitution and the law. "Nevertheless, Park used the security service's organizational structure to follow the unlawful orders of former President Yoon," the court said.

However, the court said Park did not appear to have actively intended physical confrontation, and that Park had submitted a resignation in January last year. "It can be seen that Park acknowledged responsibility and stepped down from the position," the court said, adding that the first-instance sentence could be considered somewhat heavy given that Park admitted to all charges and expressed remorse at the appellate stage.

Park and the other defendants face charges of obstructing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials' execution of an arrest warrant against Yoon in January last year.

The special prosecutor found that Park and the others directed Presidential Security Service civil servants to conduct so-called "human scrum" drills and carry out armed patrols with submachine guns — actions that went beyond the scope of their protective duties and constituted tasks they had no obligation to perform.

At the final arguments hearing last month, the insurrection special prosecutor team, led by Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok, sought a seven-year sentence for Park.

In a final statement at that hearing, Park said reflection had come during time served in detention after the first-trial sentence. "Looking back, my judgment and conduct at the time of this incident were foolish and shameful in many respects," Park said.

The first trial, held in July, sentenced Park to four years in prison and ordered detention in the courtroom.

At that time, the court said Park had "used Presidential Security Service civil servants, acting on the unlawful orders of former President Yoon, to block the lawful execution of a warrant by investigative authorities," calling it "a serious crime in which the organizational structure and chain of command of a state agency — the Presidential Security Service — was used to obstruct warrant execution for an extended period."

The court added that Park had "systematically obstructed the investigation into Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection crimes and the progress of judicial proceedings, rendering the rule of law effectively hollow, and created the risk of physical confrontation with civil servants — making the nature of the offense and the degree of culpability grave in light of both the motive and the outcome."


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