Disgraced ex-Big Bang member Seungri to leave prison in February 2023
Seungri, the disgraced former Korean idol of the group Big Bang, will be released from a civilian prison in February 2023 after spending about eight months inside.
In January 2020, Seungri was charged for a number of crimes, including embezzlement, providing prostitutes to foreigners, illegal overseas gambling, spreading illegally filmed sex videos, and assault.
But the following March, he enlisted in the country's 21-month mandatory military service for able-bodied Korean men. His case was transferred to a military court.
In August 2021, he was found guilty of his crimes and was sentenced to three years in a military prison. He was also fined 1.15 billion won (P48 million). Seungri subsequently appealed the conviction.
In January this year, the high military court in a ruling reduced Seungri's sentence to one year and six months. The following May, the South Korean Supreme Court upheld the high military court's ruling.
In June, Seungri was discharged from the military and was transferred to a civilian prison. He will be released from the Yeoju Prison in Gyeonggi Province in February of next year, after being jailed for a total of one year and six months.
Big Bang, originally a five-member group consisting of G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri, made its debut in 2006.
It quickly became one of the biggest K-Pop acts, rising to international fame as part of the second-generation groups alongside the likes of Super Junior, SHINee, and Girls Generation.
Seungri left Big Bang in 2019 amid the prostitution and gambling allegations, deemed as one of the biggest scandals in the South Korean entertainment industry.