Ravi of VIXX leaves group as prosecutors seek two-year sentence for draft dodging

Rapper Ravi attends the Seoul Southern District Court on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Rapper Ravi announced he would leave his band VIXX after prosecutors on Tuesday sought a two-year sentence for the K-pop star for trying to evade his military duties.

Ravi, a 30-year-old rapper whose real name is Kim Won-sik, is accused of violating the military service law by conspiring with a broker surnamed Koo, who was arrested in December, to receive a fake diagnosis of epilepsy.

“The nature of the crime committed by Ravi, to conspire with draft-dodging brokers to fake epilepsy symptoms and to apply for an exemption [due to illness], is severe,” the prosecution said at the final trial held at the Seoul Southern District Court on Tuesday.

The prosecution also called for a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for rapper nafla, the winner of season seven of Mnet’s competition show “Show Me The Money” (2018), who is similarly accused of having conspired with Koo to fake a diagnosis of depression.

Ravi and nafla both admitted their charges and pleaded for favorable arrangements.

The prosecution is also seeking a two-year prison sentence for the CEO of entertainment agency Groovl1n, surnamed Kim, with which both Ravi and nafla had signed exclusive contracts, for conspiring with Koo on the artists' draft evasion.

Ravi uploaded a letter of apology on his Instagram following the trial, announcing his departure from his band.

“I would first like to apologize to everyone who has been damaged or hurt by my wrongdoings,” Ravi wrote on his Instagram account on Tuesday.

Ravi continued to say that his reason for draft-dodging was because he was the only profit-making artist at the agency and because going to the military would have caused delays in previous contracts he had already made, for which he would then have to pay compensation.

“That desperate feeling has resulted in me making bad decisions […] Lastly, to make sure I don’t further damage the members of VIXX, who had already been hurt by my wrongdoings, I have decided to leave the team,” he added.

Jellyfish Entertainment, the entertainment agency responsible for boy band VIXX’s group activities, confirmed that Ravi decided to leave the group shortly after the rapper released his statement.

The dates of pronouncement for Ravi and nafla have not yet been decided.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]