SEOUL — A South Korean court on Thursday sentenced K-pop star Song Min-ho, a member of boy band Winner, to a suspended prison term on charges of repeatedly failing to show up to work during his alternative mandatory service.The Seoul Western District Court handed down a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for Song, also known by his stage name Mino, after finding him guilty of violating the Military Service Act.Song, 33, faced charges of failing to appear at his duty station on 102 nonconsecutive days when he served as a social service agent at a facility in western Seoul from March 2023 to December 2024.All able-bodied men in South Korea have to serve at least 18 months in the military. But some are alternatively assigned as social service personnel for health reasons.The prison sentence handed down on Thursday is suspended for two years. That means he can avoid incarceration if he does not commit any crime during that two-year probationary period.Military service is a duty to be performed “faithfully”, and social service agents are “no exception”, the court said.But the court also noted that Song had admitted to the charges and shown remorse.Authorities launched an investigation into Song shortly after he was discharged in 2024, when local media reported that he was frequently absent from his social service duties and took excessive sick leave.Song’s supervisor at the social service center was also given a suspended jail sentence for helping him dodge his duties, including falsifying records to make it look like Song had reported to work.Ahead of the ruling on Thursday, Song told reporters that he regretted his actions and was “sorry toward the people who gave me so much love”, Seoul Economic Daily reported.But he did not answer a question about whether he would re-enlist to serve the mandatory duty.SEOUL — A South Korean court on Thursday sentenced K-pop star Song Min-ho, a member of boy band Winner, to a suspended prison term on charges of repeatedly failing to show up to work during his alternative mandatory service.The Seoul Western District Court handed down a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for Song, also known by his stage name Mino, after finding him guilty of violating the Military Service Act.Song, 33, faced charges of failing to appear at his duty station on 102 nonconsecutive days when he served as a social service agent at a facility in western Seoul from March 2023 to December 2024.All able-bodied men in South Korea have to serve at least 18 months in the military. But some are alternatively assigned as social service personnel for health reasons.The prison sentence handed down on Thursday is suspended for two years. That means he can avoid incarceration if he does not commit any crime during that two-year probationary period.Military service is a duty to be performed “faithfully”, and social service agents are “no exception”, the court said.But the court also noted that Song had admitted to the charges and shown remorse.Authorities launched an investigation into Song shortly after he was discharged in 2024, when local media reported that he was frequently absent from his social service duties and took excessive sick leave.Song’s supervisor at the social service center was also given a suspended jail sentence for helping him dodge his duties, including falsifying records to make it look like Song had reported to work.Ahead of the ruling on Thursday, Song told reporters that he regretted his actions and was “sorry toward the people who gave me so much love”, Seoul Economic Daily reported.But he did not answer a question about whether he would re-enlist to serve the mandatory duty.
K-pop star gets suspended prison term for dodging mandatory service
