Kim Seong-hun, 'Yoon's Bodyguard' who wept in court, faces 7-year prison sentence in second trial

7-year sentence sought for Park Jong-jun as well... "Lacked courage to persuade the President to the end"
Special Counsel: "The Presidential Security Service is not a group of private bodyguards"... Sentencing on October 28
Kim Seong-hun, former Deputy Director of the Presidential Security Service ⓒ Yonhap News
Former Presidential Security Service Director Park Jong-jun and former Deputy Director Kim Seong-hun, who were indicted for obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, were both sentenced to 7 years in prison by the prosecution in the appellate trial. Former Director Park stated, "I lacked the courage to persuade the President to the end," while former Deputy Director Kim pleaded for leniency, tearfully asking the court to consider the circumstances under which he had to perform his security duties.
According to legal circles on the 30th, the Cho Eun-seok Special Counsel team for insurrection sought 7 years in prison for each of the two during the final hearing of the appellate trial for charges including obstruction of official duties, held at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Yoon Seong-sik). The prosecution also requested a 5-year sentence for Lee Kwang-woo, former Head of Security, and a 3-year sentence for Kim Shin, former Head of Family Security. These sentencing requests are identical to those made in the first trial.
Kim, the former Deputy Director, tearfully argued the inevitability of performing his security duties that day. He pleaded, "I am not an expert in law; I simply worked with the mindset of a security officer to complete my given mission to the end under any circumstances. I ask you to look once more at the inevitable situation where I had to perform security duties under immense pressure. It would have been difficult for anyone else in that position to avoid it."
Former Presidential Security Service Director Park Jong-jun, who blocked the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against former President Yoon Suk-yeol, is appearing at the National Investigation Headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on the morning of January 10, 2025. ⓒ Yonhap News
Former Director Park expressed regret over his failure to persuade former President Yoon. He requested, "Please understand that I lacked the courage to persuade the President to the end and resigned without decisively resolving the confrontation, but I spent sleepless nights agonizing over how to overcome the imminent clash between state institutions."
On the other hand, the Special Counsel team demanded severe punishment, stating that the organized obstruction of the warrant execution by the Security Service undermined trust in the rule of law.
The Special Counsel team pointed out, "The Presidential Security Service is under the President, but it is not a group of bodyguards privately employed by an individual. By betraying the trust of the people and opposing lawful law enforcement like a private bodyguard for the President, the Presidential Security Service has dealt a massive blow to its own existence and credibility in the future."
They continued, "The defendants organized this crime to protect a single person, Yoon Suk-yeol, the leader of the insurrection who declared an illegal martial law to destroy the democratic constitutional order and paralyze state functions. This was not a spontaneous response, but a planned preparation while closely monitoring the progress of the investigation."
Furthermore, they stated, "The people had no choice but to watch the legal order of the Republic of Korea being destroyed by the Presidential Security Service, a state institution, amidst extreme anxiety and confusion. Such a scene, where trust in the rule of law is seriously damaged, will be recorded as a tragic page of history." They emphasized, "If there were doubts about the validity or legality of the warrant's execution, it should have been contested through legal procedures; it is never something to be blocked using the public power and resources granted to the Presidential Security Service."
The sentencing hearing for the appeal will be held on October 28.
Former Director Park and others were indicted on charges of blocking entry to the presidential residence when the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which was investigating former President Yoon's insurrection charges, attempted to execute an arrest warrant last January. Former Deputy Director Kim also faces charges (violation of the Presidential Security Act) of being involved in deleting information from the encrypted phones of three military commanders who became subjects of the investigation, following orders from former President Yoon.
The first-instance court sentenced former Director Park to 4 years in prison, former Deputy Director Kim to 5 years, and former Head Lee to 2 years and 6 months, and ordered their immediate detention. Former Head Kim was sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years. While finding some charges guilty, the court took into account that they did not conspire with the other defendants regarding the overall obstruction of the arrest warrant execution.