What prison sentences did the Seoul High Court impose on the former PSS officials in the Yoon arrest-warrant obstruction case?

Park Jong-joon received three years, Kim Seong-hoon’s five-year sentence was upheld, and Lee Kwang-woo was sentenced to two years. The court also upheld a one-year suspended prison term for Kim Shin.

What role did Kim Seong-hoon play in the resistance to investigators’ warrant for Yoon Suk Yeol?

The Seoul High Court said Kim, the former deputy chief of the Presidential Security Service, played a key role in organizing resistance to the warrant’s execution. It upheld his five-year prison sentence.

Appellate court reduces ex-PSS chief's sentence to 3 years

Q: Why did the Seoul High Court reduce Park Jong-joon’s sentence?

The court said Park did not appear to have actively taken part in physical confrontations with officials trying to execute the arrest warrant. It also said his resignation on Jan. 7 last year could be viewed as acknowledging responsibility for the confusion and conflict that followed.

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Summary

The Seoul High Court reduced former Presidential Security Service chief Park Jong-joon’s prison sentence to three years Wednesday in Seoul for obstructing investigators’ attempt to detain former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The sentence was lowered from four years, while the court upheld a five-year term for former deputy chief Kim Seong-hoon. The court also sentenced former bodyguard division chief Lee Kwang-woo to two years and upheld a one-year suspended term for former PSS official Kim Shin.

Key Facts

The lower court handed Park a four-year sentence in July.
The Seoul High Court said Park did not appear to have actively engaged in physical confrontations with officials seeking to execute the warrant.
The court said Park’s resignation on Jan. 7 last year could be interpreted as an acknowledgment of responsibility for the resulting confusion and conflict.
The high court said Kim Seong-hoon played a key role in organizing resistance to the warrant’s execution.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 28, 2026 5:04 pm KST

Park Jong-joon, former chief of the Presidential Security Service, attends a court hearing at Seoul Central District Court, May 21. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-bin

Park Jong-joon, former chief of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), was sentenced by an appellate court Wednesday to three years in prison for blocking investigators from executing a warrant to detain former President Yoon Suk Yeol last year.

The sentence was reduced from the four years that a lower court handed down in July.

Park and other former PSS officials were indicted for obstructing investigators' attempt to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon at the presidential residence in January 2025 over his imposition of martial law.

The Seoul High Court said it reduced Park's sentence because he did not appear to have actively engaged in physical confrontations with officials seeking to execute the arrest warrant. It also said his resignation on Jan. 7 last year could be interpreted as an acknowledgment of responsibility for the resulting confusion and conflict.

However, the high court upheld a five-year prison sentence for Kim Seong-hoon, former deputy chief of the PSS, saying he played a key role in organizing resistance to the execution of the warrant.

It also sentenced Lee Kwang-woo, former chief of the PSS' bodyguard division, to two years in prison in the same case, while upholding a one-year suspended prison term for Kim Shin, a former PSS official in charge of security for the president's family.

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