Ex-Big Bang member Seungri's jail sentence reduced to 18 months at latest hearing 

Former Big Bang member Seungri’s prison sentence for his involvement in the Burning Sun scandal has been reduced by half, from 3 years to 18 months.

The Burning Sun scandal is one of the biggest controversies to have shaken the world of South Korean entertainment. Implicating many high profile names, including singer Jung Joon-young, CNBLUE’s Lee Jong-hyun, and former Highlight member Yong Jun-hyung.

The scandal involved allegations of s*x crimes against popular K-pop idols and police officials, including the distribution of non-consensual s*x tapes of women.

Among the charges were allegations of procuring prostitutes for investors from December 2015 to January 2016 and embezzling over ₩528million.

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Former Big Bang member Seungri was earlier sentenced to 3 years in prison

Seungri’s previous hearing took place in August 2021, where he was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence as well as an order from the court to pay ₩1.15billion as a penalty.

The former idol was charged with a total of nine different violations, including prostitution, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, habitual gambling, and violating the foreign exchange law.

According to the judge overseeing the August hearing:

“It is hard to see the defendant was not aware of financial payments paid to the women for s*x. It appears that he carried out systematic s*xual prostitution.”

Now though, the sentence has been reduced to half of what it was.

On January 27, according to reports from South Korean media outlet No Cut News, the High Military Court of the Ministry Of Defense in Seoul held the final appeal hearing for Seungri over his role in the Burning Sun controversy.

During the trial, the court ruled that the former idol’s prison time be cut by half. He now has to spend 18 months in jail, as opposed to the 3 years he was originally sentenced to.

During the trial, the former Big Bang member also admitted to all charges, and promised to work on changing his ways.

Following the allegations, back in March 2019, Seungri announced his retirement from the entertainment industry, leaving both Big Bang and YG Entertainment.

He stated that the criticism and hate he received in the past month had driven him to this move in order to protect Big Bang and YG Entertainment. On March 13, the former singer consensually terminated his contract with YG Entertainment.