Former K-pop star Seungri sentenced to 3 years in prison
Former K-pop star Seungri on Thursday (12 August) was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rp14 billion. The 30-year-old, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, was convicted for arranging prostitutions for investors, embezzlement, bribery, illegal gambling, drug use, violation to food hygiene law and violation to foreign currency exchange law.
Seungri left the entertainment industry and enlisted in the military in 2019 after the shocking scandal known as the Burning Sun scandal broke in 2019. The trial of his case was transferred to the South Korean military court.
During the investigation into the Burning Sun scandal, the Seoul Metropolitan Police discovered an online group chat consisting of eight participants that shared sexually illicit videos of women filmed without their knowledge and consent. This finding led K-pop stars Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon to be sentenced to six and five years in prison, respectively. Jung was also found guilty for filming the assault and distributing the footage.
Burning Sun is a nightclub located in the upscale neighbourhood of Gangnam district. Seungri was one of the board members in the club, overseeing its publicity. Yoo In-suk, Seungri’s business partner at Burning Sun and husband of actress Park Han Byul, in 2020 pleaded guilty to all charges.
Cited from CNN, the Seoul Metropolitan Police found that Burning Sun was the site of bribery, violence against customers, facilitating prostitutes for VIPs, rape, drug trafficking and drug use. Numerous women have come forward with claims of being assaulted or drugged in the club.
Judge Hwang Min-je in Thursday court, as reported by AFP, said, “It is hard to see the defendant was not aware of financial payments paid to the women for sex. It appears that he carried out systematic sexual prostitution.”
Seungri started his career as a member of K-pop group Big Bang in 2006. Formed under YG Entertainment, the group at its peak sold more than 140 million records worldwide.