Seoul court upholds one year prison sentence for rapper NO:EL

Rapper NO:EL, whose real name is Jang Yong-jun [NEWS1]

A Seoul court upheld rapper NO:EL's one year prison sentence following an appeals trial which ended Thursday. NO:EL, who's real name is Jang Yong-jun, was found guilty of driving without a license on Sept. 18 last year.

The Seoul Central District Court upheld Jang's first sentence which arose after he was involved in a car accident in Seocho District, southern Seoul. The rapper hit another car and then had an altercation with a police officer who requested a blood-alcohol test.

At the time, Jang was on probation for a drunk driving offense. He was sentenced to 18 months in 2019 suspended for two years, for causing a car accident while intoxicated.

The court upheld all the charges against Jang but found him not guilty of assault against the police officer, who required no medical treatment after the incident. The court also took into account that Jang expressed remorse and had apologized to the officer.

NO:EL debuted in 2017 and most recently released the song “Trend setter” in August 2021.

He is the son of Representative Chang Je-won of the People Power Party.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]