Ex-Big Bang’s Seungri to be released from prison in February
Convicted ex-idol Seungri, former member of K-pop boy band Big Bang, will be released from prison in February after serving his sentence for various crimes including prostitution brokerage.
Seungri will be released from the Yeoju Prison, located in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, after serving his sentence of one year and six months.
His conviction stemmed from the Burning Club scandal in early 2019. On March 11, 2019, Seungri announced his retirement from the entertainment industry due to the scandal and left Big Bang.
On Aug. 12, 2021, the General Military Court found Seungri guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 1.15 billion won (about $950,000).
He was immediately taken into custody and imprisoned at the Military Correctional Institution.
Seungri was found guilty by the military court on the following charges: prostitution brokerage in violation of Act on the Punishment of Arrangement of Commercial Sex Acts Etc., embezzlement, overseas gambling, procuring prostitution service, violation of Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, violation of Food Sanitation Act, violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning The Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes, violation of an Act on the Aggravated Punishment Etc. of Specific Economic Crimes and mobilizing gang to threaten people.
Following his conviction, Seungri filed an appeal with the court. On Jan. 27 this year, the High Military Court of the Ministry of National Defense held a hearing.
During the hearing, he admitted all the charges and expressed his intention to reflect. The High Military Court appeared to have taken this into account and reduced his sentence to one year and six months.
On May 26 this year, South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld his prison sentence of one year and six months.
On June 9 this year, Seungri was transferred to the Yeosu Prison, a civilian prison facility after his discharge from the military.
Seungri enlisted in the military in March 2020 and was supposed to be discharged in September 2021. However, he was convicted in August 2021 and his discharge was put on hold until the final decision was made in his case.
He debuted in Big Bang in 2006 and was with the group until 2019.