BTS’ Suga Fined $11,000 for Drunk Electric Scooter Incident: Yonhap

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A member of K-pop megagroup BTS was fined $11,000 – almost the maximum possible – for driving an electric scooter while drunk, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday.

SUGA, 31, was found lying on the ground next to his electric scooter by police late on the night of August 6, with a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit.

The singer, who is currently performing compulsory military duties as a social service officer, has already had his driving license revoked.

The Seoul Western District Court “fined 15 million won ($11,465) last Friday on the 31-year-old artist, whose legal name is Min Yoon-gi, a sentence identical to prosecutors’ request “Yonhap said. said, citing legal sources.

Police said SUGA’s blood alcohol level was 0.227 percent, nearly three times that allowed by law.

Driving with a blood alcohol level above 0.2 percent can result in a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of up to 20 million won under South Korea’s road traffic law .

The Seoul Military Personnel Administration said SUGA would be punished according to traffic laws and not military law, as the incident occurred outside of its official working hours.

In late August, the BTS member wrote a handwritten apology, saying he had “tarnished” the boy band’s name.

“I have left a big stain on the precious memories I created with my members and our fans, and I have tarnished the name of BTS,” he wrote.

SUGA added that he had made a “grave mistake” and was “painfully sorry.”

The seven members of the world’s most popular boy band have been on “hiatus” since 2022 due to their military service, which South Korea requires of all men under 30 due to tensions with the North, which has nuclear weapons.

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