WINNER Song Mino’s Appearance In Court Catches Attention

Group WINNER‘s Song Mino bowed his head before the press as he appeared as a witness in a trial involving the manager responsible for his social service duty, who is charged with violating military service laws.

On the afternoon of July 14th, Song Mino appeared as a witness at the 3rd trial session of the military service law violation case held under the sole jurisdiction of Criminal Division 10 at the Seoul Western District Court. The trial aimed to determine whether Mr. A, the person responsible for managing Song Mino’s social service duty, had condoned his absence from work or been involved in falsifying attendance records.

The prosecution alleges that Mr. A knowingly allowed Song Mino to be absent but participated in recording his attendance as if he had reported to work normally. On the other hand, Mr. A’s defense admits to some irregularities in the attendance processing but denies any prior conspiracy to falsify departure records or attendance. Accordingly, the court called Song Mino to testify directly to focus on whether there was any prior collusion between the two.

Dressed in a black suit, Song Mino appeared at the courthouse and briefly apologized saying, “I’m sorry,” before heading into the courtroom amid a barrage of questions from reporters.

Song Mino is accused of unauthorized absence for 102 days out of about 430 working days during his alternative military service from March 2023 to December 2024 at the Mapo Facilities Management Corporation and the Mapo Community Convenience Facilities.

Previously, at the first hearing of his military service law violation case held in April, Song Mino admitted all charges. The prosecution sought a sentence of one year and six months in prison. In his final statement, Song Mino expressed remorse, saying, “I am sorry for failing to fulfill my national defense duty faithfully,” and pleaded for leniency, adding, “If given the chance, I would like to complete my service diligently.”

This trial is expected to focus on the criminal responsibility of the service duty manager and whether there was any prior conspiracy in the falsification of Song Mino’s attendance records.

WINNER