3-year prison term finalized for ex-PSS chief for obstructing Yoon's arrest
Former chief of the Presidential Security Service Park Jong-joon attends his sentence hearing at Seoul Central District Court, May 21. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-bin
A three-year prison term was finalized Thursday for a former chief of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) for blocking investigators from executing a warrant to detain former President Yoon Suk Yeol last year, according to legal sources.
Last week, the Seoul High Court handed down the verdict. Both Park and prosecutors had seven days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but neither side filed an appeal by the Wednesday deadline, resulting in the finalization of the sentence, the sources said.
Park and other former PSS officials were indicted for obstructing investigators' attempts to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon at the presidential residence in January 2025 over his imposition of martial law.
A lower court had sentenced Park to four years in prison in July. The appellate court reduced his term to three years last week, noting he did not actively participate in physical confrontations with investigators and that his resignation on Jan. 7, 2025, reflected a sense of accountability for the resulting confusion and conflict.
Also finalized were a two-year prison term for Lee Kwang-woo, former chief of the PSS' bodyguard division, and a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for Kim Shin, a former PSS official in charge of security for the president's family, the sources said.
Kim Seong-hoon, former deputy chief of the PSS, has appealed his five-year sentence to the Supreme Court.