Former spec ops officer Ken Rhee gets suspended sentence

A court on Thursday ruled YouTuber and former special forces officer Ken Rhee guilty of violating the passport law and driving away after hitting a motorcycle driver last year.

YouTuber and former special forces officer Ken Rhee enters the Seoul Central District Court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

A court on Thursday ruled YouTuber and former special forces officer Ken Rhee guilty of violating the passport law and driving away after hitting a motorcycle driver last year.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Rhee to a year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Passport Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Rhee has also been ordered to 80 hours of community service and 40 hours of driving lessons.

"His actions may have burdened the country, contrary to his intention, when he joined the Ukrainian military," the court said. "The injuries suffered by the [car accident] victim are also not light, and he did not settle with the victim."

Rhee told the local press that he will appeal the decision.

Rhee illegally traveled to Ukraine to join volunteers fighting against the Russian invasion in March 2022 and returned to Korea two months later due to injuries to his knee. He was indicted by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for violating passport laws.

He was also found guilty of hitting a man on a motorcycle and running off while driving his car in Seoul in July 2022. He has also been indicted for hitting a man outside the court last March and was indicted on charges of assault last June.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]