Seungri
Debuting at the age of fifteen, Seungri rose to stardom along his four older BigBang members from 2006 until his involvement in the Burning Sun scandal in 2019 forced him into early retirement.
In the beginning, Seungri was linked to the Burning Sun nightclub through misreports that he owned and managed the club himself. Seungri’s involvement later grew when Kang Kyungyoon began posting articles accusing him of mediating prostitution services for foreign investors, molka distribution, and gambling. These accusations were paired with alleged text messages proving the validity of her claims. It was never clarified how she came into possession of these messages and it is unclear whether or not the police confirmed the legitimacy of the texts.
Regardless, a police investigation was launched into the claims and Seungri was ultimately booked on prostitution charges. As the investigative broadened, the police were also looking into Seungri for molka, gambling, embezzlement, and drug use. Despite the rampant reports accusing Seungri of molka distribution and drug use, Seungri was eventually cleared of both charges after he submitted his phones to police and tested negative on multiple different drug tests. He was, however, finally taken to court for prostitution, embezzlement, and several other charges.
Initially facing the following eight charges;
- Violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement)
- Violation of the Food Sanitation Act
- Embezzlement in the course of duty
- Violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (filming using a camera, etc.)
- Violation of the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Brokering Prostitution (brokering prostitution, etc.)
- Habitual gambling
- Violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act
- Violation of the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Brokering Prostitution (prostitution)
A ninth charge—as a co-perpetrator instigating assault—was introduced at Seungri’s seventh hearing. Many people have speculated that this was a desperate move on Prosecution’s part to secure a conviction, as their case had been reported to be astoundingly weak during the prior six trials.
Prosecution had struggled immensely during Seungri’s 25 trials, with reports citing Seungri’s considerably stronger physical evidence, as well as the fact that every single witness called to testify on each of Seungri’s charges attested to his complete lack of involvement. Even the presiding judge had given commentary about the utter lack of evidence for the ninth charge.
Such was the case, it came as a shock to anyone following the news covering the trials when Seungri was, indeed, convicted on all nine charges—including the one the judge had stated there was no evidence for. This has been met with heavy criticism.
Nonetheless, the guilty verdict was given on August 12th, 2021 and Seungri was ordered to complete a three year prison sentence and pay a fine of 1.15 billion Won (approximately $750,000USD). Seungri later appealed the sentence, agreeing to change his plea from innocent—which he’d maintained throughout all 25 hearings—to guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence.
The courts upheld the appeal and reduced Seungri’s sentence to 1.5 years in prison and dropped the fee mandate. Seungri served a portion of his sentence in a military prison and then, when his sentence was finalized, he was transferred to Yeoju Correctional Institute. It has been reported by various sources that Seungri studied auto mechanics in prison, frequently hummed Antifragile by Le Sserafim, and worked out frequently.
Following Seungri’s release from prison in February, 2023, Seungri has continued to be the subject of interest, being featured often in news articles documenting his whereabouts. It has been reported that while he still resides in Korea, he is much more private while there and often enjoys traveling abroad. In one of the rare instances he was spotted outside of his home in Korea, he made headlines for eating soup at a restaurant. Most reports find him in Thailand, China, and Malaysia.
In 2026, Seungri became the focus of news outlets once again due to a resurfaced clip where he’d spoken at a private event. In the background, a Prince Brewery logo could be seen. Prince Brewery has been linked to Prince Holding Group, a company embroiled in legal allegations regarding human trafficking and forced labour, leading many to suspect that Seungri was involved in trafficking “again”.
It’s important to note that these speculations are based entirely on a single logo in the background of an event he attended. Seungri has not been spotted making acquaintances with anyone from Prince Holding, nor are there business contracts linking Seungri to the company. Furthermore, it is inaccurate to state that Seungri is involved in trafficking “again” when he was not involved with it a first time. Burning Sun was cleared of trafficking allegations in 2019 and Seungri’s prostitution charges do not constitute trafficking to any degree.
Despite Seungri’s attempts to remain out of the public eye, critics have continuously harassed and photographed him without his consent. Seungri’s only public “appearance” was a 2024 interview he gave with Ilgan Sports where he addressed a certain clip of himself featured in the BBC documentary about Burning Sun. He also denied rumours that he was opening a new club.
Sources:
https://m.mk.co.kr/news/hot-issues/9524285
https://businessmirror.com.ph/?s=Seungri
https://n.news.naver.com/article/009/0004837564
https://v.daum.net/v/20210819090303434
https://www.chosun.com/english/kpop-culture-en/2026/01/20/KTEASKGT6FDR3HHGQSUARW63OU/
https://en.sportschosun.com/celebrity/2024/08/sc-focus-seungri-whether-its-star-character-10869
https://m.dcinside.com/board/detentioncenter/55322
https://www.fnnews.com/news/201907101431214543
https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003434705?sid=001
https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/056/0010769771?sid=102