Seungri, former member of SK boy group BIG BANG, has been released from prison two days earlier than expected.
Big Bang’s former member Lee Seung-hyun, popularly known as Seungri, was released two days earlier than his initial release date of February 11, after completing his 1.5 years prison sentence.
"Former Big Bang member Seungri was released from the Yeoju Correctional Institution this morning," an official from the Ministry of Justice told local news channel JTBC.
Seungri was from Yeoju Prison in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, after serving sentence for nine indicted criminal charges including solicitation of illegal prostitution, illegal overseas gambling, the spread of illegally filmed sexual content, threatening, assault, and embezzling money from his nightclub, the Burning Sun, which was revealed during the 2018 Burning Sun club scandal.
According to All Kpop, during a trial on Aug. 12, 2021, the General Military Court found Seungri guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of 1.1 billion Won ($874,571.17 USD)
Seungri was then taken into custody and imprisoned at the Military Correctional Institution after being found guilty on various charges, but he was also quick to file an appeal with the court and on Jan. 27 last year, the High Military Court of the Ministry of National Defense held a hearing wherein he admitted all the charges and expressed his intention to reflect.
The High Military Court decided to reduce his sentence to a year and six months of jail time which was then upheld by South Korea’s Supreme Court.
Seungri was then transferred to the Yeosu Prison, a civilian prison facility after his discharge from the military, on June 9 last year as he was still enlisted in the military during his trial, reported Manila Bulletin.
After his eventual release, many are wondering if he will resume his activities including his channel on YouTube, but majority thinks that the general population is yet to accept what he has done and that Seungri may have to lay low for now.
Tags: #Kpop, #boygroup, #crimes, #scandal