K-pop idol Ravi, former member of boy band VIXX, and rapper Nafla were sentenced by a Seoul court for violating a law governing military service in South Korea.
In a decision on Aug. 10, the Seoul Southern District Court imposed a suspended sentence on Ravi, who received a verdict of one year imprisonment suspended for two years and community service of 120 hours.
K-pop idol Ravi (left) and rapper Nafla (Instagram)
Ravi was found guilty of faking his epilepsy diagnosis to avoid serving as an active duty soldier in the military.
He colluded with a military service broker to come up with a fake epilepsy diagnosis.
"The defendant conspired with the military service broker, pretending to have epilepsy, and using deceit to evade military service, and the quality of the crime is not very good,” the court said of Ravi.
The court acknowledged that Ravi “is a first-time offender and is deeply reflecting on his mistakes.”
Ravi enlisted in the military last October and has been serving as a social worker, an alternative form of military service in South Korea.
In his attempt to get exempted from the active duty service, Ravi was said to have acted as if he had fainted, received a hospital examination, got a diagnosis and submitted it to the Military Manpower Administration.
After attending his trial last April, Ravi took to Instagram to apologize and announce he was leaving VIXX.
“I would like to express my sincere apologies to the epileptic patients and their families who must have been hurt by me for rationalizing myself and making the wrong choice during this process, as well as to all the military service members who are faithfully fulfilling their duties even at this moment,” he said.
Ravi said that “lastly, to the VIXX members who were harmed by my fault, I decided to leave the team so that no further damage would occur. I sincerely thank all the members who have been with me for a long time of 11 years, and I am sorry beyond words. I sincerely hope that there will be no more damage caused by me to the members' precious efforts.”
On the other hand, Nafla was sentenced to one year in prison.
Nafla tried to be judged by military authorities as unfit for military service by saying that his depression had worsened.
After he was assigned as a social worker in Seoul, he received preferential treatment by not reporting to work for 141 days.
According to the court, Nafla committed the military service violation while on trial for a drug case.