On July 14, Song Minho arrived at Seoul Western District Court in a black suit. Reporters asked whether he acknowledged that his supervisor had made things easier for him, and whether he still intended to re-enlist. His answer to everything was the same two words: "I'm sorry." Then he walked inside.
He was not there as a defendant. Song Minho's own case concluded at its first hearing on April 21, when he admitted to every charge in the indictment and prosecutors formally requested a sentence of one year and six months in prison. Today's hearing belonged to his former service supervisor, referred to only as Mr. Lee, who faces charges of conspiring with Song Minho to conceal 102 days of unauthorized absence — approximately one quarter of his total required service period. Lee's legal team had requested Song Minho as a witness, and the court's central question was straightforward: did Lee simply look the other way, or did the two plan this together?
Song Minho's testimony did not fully resolve that question. He confirmed that on days when he was in poor condition, he had sent pre-scheduled text messages indicating he was taking approved leave — a practice he said followed Lee's guidance. He also stated that he never needed to give a reason when requesting to come in late or skip the day entirely. But he rejected the conspiracy framing. "Not showing up was my responsibility," he said — then added, almost immediately, that he felt "deeply sorry" toward Lee. It was the most carefully weighted line of the session: an assertion of personal accountability that shielded Lee from the conspiracy charge without fully clearing him either.
No verdict has been issued in either case. The court plans to close Lee's hearings on August 20, after which a sentencing date for Song Minho will be set. Korean courts typically sentence at 50 to 70 percent of the prosecution's request, placing the likely range between ten months and just over a year. Song Minho's full admission of guilt, his stated willingness to re-serve, and his documented history of bipolar disorder and panic disorder all qualify as mitigating factors. The scale of the violation — 102 absent days from roughly 430 required — does not.
