‘Hyatt Hotel Disturbance’ Sunoa-pa Members Sentenced to Prison in First Trial

"Employees and Customers' Daily Lives Disrupted... Negative Impact on Society as a Whole"

Suspected Members of the Sunoa Faction of a Violent Organization Undergo Warrant Hearing (Seoul=Yonhap News) Photo by Hong Hae-in = Two years ago, members of the Sunoa faction, a violent organization that caused a disturbance at the Grand Hyatt Seoul hotel, appeared at the pre-arrest warrant hearing held on the 13th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (organization activities of groups). [Image source=Yonhap News]

Members of the violent gang ‘Sunoapa’ who caused a disturbance at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul have been sentenced to prison.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 24 (Presiding Judge Choi Kyung-seo) on the 13th sentenced five Sunoapa members, including Yoon (52), who were indicted for forming and operating a gang under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes, to prison terms ranging from 1 year and 4 months to 5 years, and detained them in court. Another five gang members who were indicted together received suspended prison sentences.

The court stated, “The core issue in this case is that organized criminals were stationed at a famous hotel in Seoul for personal economic gain,” adding, “They disrupted the work of hotel employees, disturbed the peaceful daily lives of the employees and guests, and caused general citizens to feel uneasy about the level of public safety in our society, thereby having a negative impact on society as a whole.”

It continued, “Some defendants merely followed orders from higher-ups as gang members, but even so, they displayed rough and rude behavior to flaunt the gang’s power, while vaguely anticipating the possibility of criminal activity.”

Yoon and others are accused of staying for three nights and four days in October 2020 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, demanding a meeting with Bae Sang-yoon, chairman of KH Group which operates the hotel, and threatening employees. It was revealed that Yoon, who led the crime, had lost money after investing in a private equity fund operated by Chairman Bae.

Sunoapa is a violent gang formed in the late 1980s in Mokpo, Jeonnam. Expanding their activities to Seoul in the 1990s, they focused on operating entertainment establishments and demolition services for construction companies, growing to be one of the top 10 gangs nationwide in the 2000s. The gang is currently known to have about 120 members.