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Former K-pop star Seungri from BIG BANG is jailed

By Erin Lynch

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 13: Lee Seung-hyun, better known as Seungri, leaves after attending a court hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on January 13, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. The court hearing is held on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Seungri, former member of K-Pop boyband BIGBANG, on seven charges including illegal overseas gambling, illegal currency transactions and procuring prostitutes. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 13: Lee Seung-hyun, better known as Seungri, leaves after attending a court hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on January 13, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. The court hearing is held on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Seungri, former member of K-Pop boyband BIGBANG, on seven charges including illegal overseas gambling, illegal currency transactions and procuring prostitutes. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) /
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After years and years of litigation, former K-pop star Seungri is finally convicted and sent to jail for his role in multiple crimes, including gambling and organizing illegal sex work. The length of the sentence may upset people overseas, though.

The former BIG BANG singer was convicted by South Korea’s military court since Lee Seung-hyun (Seungri) entered his mandatory military service in March of last year. Seungri is convicted of stealing money from a nightclub he invested in, Burning Sun, and using it to gamble in Las Vegas, which is illegal in South Korea. It gets even more sinister after that.

The case first opened in 2019 after a complaint by a patron over his treatment at the club. When police got involved they uncovered mounds of evidence including the gambling that Seungri and other members of the club had participated in but also police corruption and his involvement in organizing drugs and sex workers for potential foreign shareholders.

Other former K-pop artists were convicted for their role in raping women, filming it, and sharing it within a chat that Seungri was a part of. While there is no evidence to confirm his involvement in participating in that, it continually brought the K-pop star down in the eyes of the public.

Former BIG BANG singer, Seungri, is convicted and jailed for his crimes in the Burning Sun scandal

While the case wrapped up in 2019 and most involved already had already been imprisoned and fined for their crimes, the artist’s sentencing was delayed due to his enrollment in the military.  Though he was indicted in civilian court, the trial transferred to the military. On August 12th, they ruled that Seungri would get three years prison time for his crimes.

Three years seems far too little for the scope of the crimes he both committed and was involved in, but it’s good that he’s finally behind bars. This was and is the biggest scandal the music industry has seen in South Korea. To get the full scope of everything that happened, you can read this in order to see just how awful things were.

It’s such a shame that a talented guy like him decided to put his money in all the wrong places. He was one of the biggest stars in K-pop being a member of BIG BANG, dubbed the “Kings of K-Pop”, who sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and had success in not only their home country but had music in Japan as well. Threw his success away. We’ll have to wait and see if the disgraced singer makes any sort of come back after his jail time and military service.

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What do you think of the sentencing? Too little or enough for his crimes? Let us know in the comments below!

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