Popular Actor
Kwon Sang-Woo has been slapped with a heftier fine than usual for the June 12 hit and run incident that caused media frenzy.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered him to pay a 7 million won fine for fleeing the scene of an accident he caused last month.
The judgment handed is 2 million won more than the usual fine imposed by the Seoul Central District Court for hit and run charges involving only property damage.
The additional penalty was tacked on by the court, which said that the 34-year-old Hallyu star “had a social responsibility to maintain as a public figure.”
credits to Korean Herald
Kwon turned himself in on June 14, two days after the incident. He was charged with fleeing the scene of a vehicular accident after driving into a pair of parked car one of which was a police cruiser then a tree.
According to police reports, Kwon fled the scene on foot at around 2:55 a.m. on June 12, after he had crashed into a Genesis sedan and reversed into a police cruiser before hitting a nearby tree that put a stop to his Cadillac.
Many speculations came out that Kwon fled the scene because he was under the influence of alcohol at the time. However, Kwon later stated that he ran away out of fear. Soon after the incident was widely publicized, his agent released an official statement saying the accident was caused by Kwon’s inexperience behind the wheel. While many had expected his troubles with the law to affect box office figures for his latest film, “Into the Fire,” the Korean War picture has attracted respectable attendance figures thus far, with ticket sales passing 3 million since its release on June 16. As a result of his, producers of the film and Kwon’s camp have excluded him from nationwide promotional tours.
On June 21, Kwon released a handwritten letter of apology to fans through his official website.
“To all my fans and those who care about me, I can only bow my head and apologize,” he wrote. “For about a month I have been spending time alone at home reflecting on my regrettable actions.
“As a public figure, I should have known better and should have acted by the laws of our society. But because of my misguided judgment at the time I have disappointed you all and I am deeply hurt because of it.”
Kwon is set to return on the small screen in October with the upcoming SBS television series “Dae Mul” with Koh Hyun-jung and Cha In-pyo.
You Soo-jung, second runner-up in the Miss Korea 2009 pageant, was crowned Miss Asia at the gala for Miss Supranational 2010, held in Plock, Poland, last Saturday.
