'Illegal Filming at Subway Station' Former Anchor Kim Seong-jun Sentencing Postponed... Court Cites "Legality of Search and Seizure" Issue

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The sentencing for Kim Seong-jun (55), former SBS anchor, who was prosecuted for illegally filming a woman with a mobile phone at a subway station, has been postponed.

On the 17th at 2 p.m., Judge Park Kang-min of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 13 held a pretrial hearing for Kim, who was charged with violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (filming using a camera, etc.). Although the sentencing was scheduled for that day, it was changed to a pretrial hearing due to issues regarding the legality of the search and seizure.

Judge Park stated, "Out of the total nine charges, I understand that search warrants were obtained for only two. Since there is no record of additional warrants, the remaining seven charges are problematic," adding, "There may be an issue whether the validity of the verification warrant extends to other crimes." He further explained the reason for changing to a pretrial hearing, saying, "If the validity of the search and seizure verification warrant does not extend to other cases, the remaining related evidence may be considered illegally obtained."

The prosecution said, "There are precedents indicating relevance, and several academic papers exist," but added, "We judged there was no reason to issue additional search warrants."

In response, Judge Park said, "A similar case was acquitted in the first and second trials and is currently pending at the Supreme Court," and added, "It seems necessary to carefully consider the Supreme Court's judgment on the issue." He asked Kim's defense counsel whether Kim intends to wait for the Supreme Court's decision and refer to the outcome, requesting their opinion on this matter.

Kim did not appear in court on the day of the pretrial hearing, as the defendant's attendance was not mandatory.

At the prosecution's closing arguments on the 10th, they requested a six-month prison sentence for Kim, along with disclosure of personal information and a three-year employment restriction order.

Kim is accused of secretly filming a woman's lower body at Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station in July last year. Initially, he strongly denied the allegations, but it was reported that photos of a woman's body, apparently secretly taken, were found on his mobile phone. After the police investigation was reported in the media, Kim submitted his resignation to SBS the following day and left the company.