BTS Suga's DUI case handed over to prosecution after e-scooter incident

Social Affairs

BTS Suga's DUI case handed over to prosecution after e-scooter incident

Published: 30 Aug. 2024, 16:13

BTS member Suga enters the Yongsan Police Station in central Seoul to be questioned by police over DUI allegations on Aug. 23. [YONHAP]

BTS member Suga's DUI case was handed over to the prosecution on Friday, 25 days after he was caught allegedly drunk driving an e-scooter earlier this month.

Suga's case was sent to the prosecution on charges of DUI around 2 p.m. on Friday, according to police.

Suga’s blood alcohol level was 0.227 percent when he was caught driving under the influence on Aug. 6, which is well above the threshold for license revocation — set at 0.08 percent.

The BTS member posted an apology letter on Sunday, two days after he was interrogated for three hours at the Seoul Yongsan Police Precinct in central Seoul.

In the letter, the singer admitted to drunk driving an e-scooter in a pedestrian zone and apologized for "confusing everyone with the first apology," in which he referred to the scooter as a "kick board," a term commonly used in Korea to describe scooters without seats.

The two types of scooters are classified differently by law, leading to different sentences for drunk drivers. Suga and his agency faced criticism for initially referring to the e-scooter as a kick board in the first apology — issued the day after the DUI — which was seen as a possible attempt to downplay the incident.

The singer is currently fulfilling his mandatory military service as a social service agent, a role that typically involves a regular daily work schedule, allowing him to return home after work hours.

Suga is scheduled to complete his service in June next year. The Military Manpower Administration stated that it would not penalize him because the incident did not occur while he was on duty.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]