Supreme Court upholds one year prison sentence for rapper NO:EL

Rapper NO:EL [YONHAP]

The Supreme Court upheld rapper NO:EL’s one year prison sentence, according to local reports Friday.

NO:EL, whose real name is Jang Yong-jun, was found driving without a license on Sept. 18 last year. He was in a car accident in Seocho District, southern Seoul, where he hit another car and then had an altercation with a police officer who requested that he take a breathalyzer test. Jang was indicted on charges of driving without a license, refusing to take the breathalyzer test and assaulting a police officer.

At the time, Jang was on probation for a previous drunk driving offense. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison 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, as the injury was a minor one.

Jang was released from prison on Oct. 9 having been detained for a year since his arrest.

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]