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Is Seungri innocent? Here's what 7 witnesses said about former Big Bang member's role in Burning Sun scandal

Seungri, a former member of boy band Big Bang, was charged with 'special assault' the general military court of South Korea's Ground Operations Command said

Seungri, the controversial former member of the South Korean boy band ‘Big Bang’, was recently charged with allegedly mobilizing his gang members for threatening people with whom he had a bar fight. This comes in addition to the previous charges against the 31-year-old singer-songwriter, which include illegal overseas gambling and procurement of prostitutes for his investors. 

In the latest hearing, the prosecutors accused him of conspiring with his business partner Yoo In-seok, former chief of Yuri Holdings Co., to mobilize gang members after getting into a fight with another customer at a bar in southern Seoul in December 2015. Yoo was found to have called the gang members after learning of Seungri's situation, reports Yonhap News. Seungri is currently completing his mandatory military service and so this case has been transferred to the military court.

Seungri has completely denied the allegations and will submit an opinion, according to reports.

This, however, is not the first time the K-pop superstar is facing such shocking charges. He has been embroiled in the prostitution and gambling scandal since 2019, and this time the prosecutors have sought a second arrest warrant against him. 

Charges against Seungri

In 2019, the entire country and Seungri’s fans across the world received the shock of a lifetime after their favorite pop star got indicted on eight counts of enabling prostitution, illegal gambling, and embezzlement. 

Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, co-founded and managed the nightclub Burning Sun. In 2019, police came across evidence and secret KakaoTalk conversations of the K-pop star that clearly indicated drug abuse and arranging for sex workers to entertain their investors. 

Though Seungri denied the allegations vehemently, evidence indicated otherwise. He was thus subjected to a drug analysis test whose results came negative. However, Seungri’s public image and popularity were affected severely due to the controversy that ultimately led him to announce his retirement and exit from Big Bang in March 2020. 

The following month, police unearthed records that showed Seungri joining his business partner Yoo In-seok in embezzlement of funds from his business Yuri Holdings. Following 17 closed-door interrogation sessions with the police, Seungri faced the risk of an arrest warrant against him. But the warrant did not come through at the time as the Seoul District Court rejected the same saying the charge of embezzlement in open to dispute. His involvement in prostitution mediation also could not be confirmed due to destruction of evidence. Finally, in June 2020, Seungri’s case was forwarded to the prosecution with the original charges. 

Incidentally, his business partner and co-accused Yoo was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and three years of suspension after being convicted in the same charges against Seungri.  Now his case has been reopened once again after reports surfaced about his alleged participation in gang violence.

Is Seungri actually innocent?

However, it is not his fans who believe in Seungri’s innocence. According to a report published in AllKPop, all witnesses in Seungri’s trial have collectively denied his involvement in cases like prostitution mediation. Some of their names have been shielded to protect their identity.

Mr Kim, a former MD of the Burning Sun, revealed that when a Japanese investor at the establishment was matched with a prostitute, he accompanied the woman to the hotel entrance according to the instructions given to him by Yoo In-seok. He admitted that he had mistakenly named Seungri as one of the planners during the initial police questioning and that he now adds Seungri was not involved in the incident. Another witness, Mr Park, corroborated the same saying it was Yoo In-seok who sent prostitutes to a Japanese businessman and not Seungri. He also added that there was a lot of pressure on him to include Seungri’s name during the police investigation. 

Mr D, a witness from Club Arena MD also agreed - “Seungri has never ordered prostitution. Everything was done by Yoo In seok.” Two sex workers involved in the case, Ms. B and C stated that they were directed to Seungri’s house after receiving a proposal from an agent, however, Seungri had no part to play in proposing or paying them. 

A longtime acquaintance of Yoo In-seok, Ms A, stated that she cooperated in procuring the prostitutes solely upon Yoo In-seok’s request and there was no relation with Seungri. Among other things, she further added that she never had any prostitution-related conversation with Seungri and that the police had pressured her into taking Seungri’s name before. Ms B, another witness named Yoo In-seok in providing her with the money for the arrangement of prostitutes but she never interacted with Seungri about the same. 

His fans sincerely believe in his innocence

Seungri's fans have posted their reactions on Twitter vouching for his innocence with confidence. A fan tweeted, "THIS IS WHAT U SHOULD BE POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!! SEUNGRI IS INNOCENT AND WE WANT JUSTICE FOR HIM Face with look of triumph." Another user wrote, "Their argument is already flawed since they're mixing up cases. On top of that if all this evidence was in these chatrooms proving his guilt or at least he had knowledge, the prosecution would have a slam dunk case and wouldn't be struggling in trial like they are now."

However, there are also a few who believe that Seungri is guilty and giving him a clean chit for his crimes would be an injustice to the actual victims. "Y'all are trying so hard to defame seungri as of he is the worst guy here, without minding to read the actual fact, wondering where's y'all energy "STAND BY THE VICTIM" to Kim Sang Kyo," wrote one user.

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