South Korea: ex-K-pop star sentenced to three years in prison for pimping
Former South Korean K-Pop Boys band singer Lee Seung-hyun, said Seungri, on August 28, 2019 in Seoul.
AFP - JUNG YEON-JE
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Former singer of the South Korean pop boys band Big Bang, Seungri was found guilty of arranging meetings between foreign businessmen and prostitutes, as well as illegal transactions in the context of betting in Las Vegas.
This is the epilogue of a drug and prostitution scandal that rocked the K-Pop world.
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With our correspondent in Seoul,
Nicolas Rocca
Seungri, or Lee Seung-hyun to be his real name, was a star in one of the country's most popular boy bands before becoming a wealthy businessman. In 2019, then at the height of his fame, his name appeared in a major sex and drug scandal that involved several Korean pop personalities. The artist retired from the stage before starting his military service last March.
It was therefore a military court that found him guilty of nine counts.
In the sights of the judges, embezzlement, illegal transactions in luxury Las Vegas casinos and above all, the organization of meetings between prostitutes and potential Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Japanese customers, likely to invest in his nightclub.
He would have arranged these meetings 24 times from September 2015.
This Thursday, immediately after his sentence to 3 years in prison and a 750,000 euro fine, the ex-singer was taken into custody.
During the entire trial, the fallen star rejected the charges and accused his associates of being at the origin of the acts of procuring.
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To listen: South Korea: K-pop, beyond idols, a well-established successful factory
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