Ex-BIGBANG member Seungri to be tried for 8 offences including sex trafficking

KATHMANDU: Former BIGBANG member Seungri will be tried for eight offences, including sex trafficking.

Quoting an exclusive report by News1, Allkpop reports that 30-year-old Seungri (real name Lee Seung Hyun), who was indicted on charges of arranging prostitution for investors and engaging in overseas gambling, will be tried at the Ground Operations Command in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The prosecution had handed Seungri over to trial without physical detention in January.

According to an official from the Korean Army, on July 5 Seungri's case was assigned to the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Department.

Seungri enlisted in the army back on March 9. After five weeks of basic military training at the boot camp, Seungri was assigned to the subordinate unit of the 5th Corps.

Accordingly, the 26th Criminal Department of the Seoul Central District Court transferred the trial to the General Military Court of the Fifth Corps Command on May 15. However, the General Military Court of the 5th Corps Command did not directly take charge of the trial and transferred the Seungri case back to the General Military Court of the Ground Operations Command. A branch office of the General Military Court filed the case on June 23.

The exact reason for the transfer is unknown, but the transfer is said to be taken in consideration of the gravity of the issue. The transfer is seen as intended to conduct trials at higher-level units and deal with them in greater depth.

There are eight charges against Seungri that will be dealt with by the branch office of the General Military Court — Violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc of Specific Economic Crimes; Violation of the Food Sanitation Act; Violation of the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes; Filming for the Use of Cameras, etc; Violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Sex Trade, etc; Violation of the Foreign Exchange Act.

No date for the trial has been set yet.

Seungri was previously indicted on charges for gambling several times in Las Vegas and other countries for about three and a half years, starting from December 2013. He was also indicted on failing to report in advance while borrowing gambling funds in US dollars (violation of the Foreign Exchange Act).

Also included in the prosecution's indictment are allegations of arranging prostitution between September 2015 and January 2016 to overseas investors and sending pictures of women's bodies through Kakao Talk.

Seungri was involved in the 2019 Burning Sun scandal that included a number of allegations related to club Burning Sun due to his affiliation with the club as a creative director/shareholder, and occasional DJ. The allegations included drug use and arranging sexual favours for investors, among others.