MUSIC
Singer Kim Ho-joong's Detention Extended Amid Hit-and-Run Charges
According to legal sources on the 10th, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 26 extended the detention period for Kim Ho-joong, former CEO of his agency Think Entertainment Lee Kwang-deuk, and the agency's director, identified as Jeon, on December 5.
Kim Ho-joong remains in custody as a pre-trial detainee, with his conviction not yet finalized. If the court had not renewed his detention, he could have faced the appeal trial while released. However, the court recently decided to extend his detention.
Under criminal procedure law, the initial detention period for a defendant is two months, which can be renewed twice for two months each at each trial level, extending up to a maximum of six months. Kim Ho-joong was detained and indicted on June 18. His detention was extended twice during the first trial, and an additional extension was decided ahead of the first appeal trial. Kim Ho-joong will remain in detention until February next year while undergoing the appeal process.
In the first trial, held last month on the 13th, Kim Ho-joong was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (Dangerous Driving Injury). Former CEO Lee Kwang-deuk and director Jeon received sentences of two years and one year and six months, respectively. Manager Jang was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation. Both the defense and prosecution have appealed the first trial's verdict.
According to the prosecution, on May 9 at around 11:40 PM, Kim Ho-joong crossed the centerline and collided with an oncoming taxi in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, before fleeing the scene. After the accident, his manager impersonated Kim Ho-joong by wearing his clothes and falsely confessed to driving. Director Jeon destroyed evidence by swallowing the black box memory card from Kim Ho-joong's vehicle.
Agency CEO Lee Kwang-deuk falsely claimed that Kim Ho-joong never drank alcohol and was unable to handle the accident aftermath due to panic disorder, admitting to orchestrating the false confession, which sparked public outrage. During this process, evidence emerged of Kim Ho-joong's coercive behavior, including instructing a junior manager to falsely confess, and the organized cover-up involving the agency's leadership.
However, the prosecution could not charge Kim Ho-joong with drunk driving due to the difficulty of determining his exact blood alcohol level using the Widmark formula. Consequently, the so-called 'Kim Ho-joong Prevention Law' was proposed, aiming to impose penalties of up to five years in prison for those who drink alcohol post-accident to evade breathalyzer tests.
