On June 30, 2021, Lee Seung Hyun, better known as retired Big Bang member Seungri, took the stand exercising his Constitutional right to testify in his defense. Seungri’s 24th hearing took place at the Ground Operations Command’s General Military Court in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do.
Seungri’s lawyer admitted evidence to further support their claims of innocence. The additional submission of evidence from the lawyer took place prior to the defendant taking the stand. In South Korea, the defense lawyers are allowed to present their own evidence and testimonies to court in defense of their clients.
His lawyer presented a list of evidence, including a borrowed certificate, a copy of his father’s resident registration, a non-prosecution disposition, a photo taken with a couple of Japanese businessmen (Defense witness) A and his wife, an oversees article that
(Defense witness) A left messages of support even after the incident, the words of (Defense witness) B a Japanese man (with a celebrity girlfriend), and a statement (receipt) of about 900 million won for liquors etc. that Seungri deposited in Burning Sun.
Seungri’s own testimony builds upon his defense and he maintains his innocence to eight out of the nine charges, including Prostitution (for self); Prostitution Mediation (for others between Dec 2015-Jan 2016); Embezzlement (hiring legal representative fee); Embezzlement (528 million won involving Burning Sun revenues); Violation of Food Sanitation Act (involving Monkey Museum wrongfully registering business); Habitual Gambling (Las Vegas gambling); Distributing Obscene Material/Shooting using camera (single photo of pornographic nature), and Instigating Violence (eliciting assumed gang violence).
Seungri already admitted guilt to the charge of Violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act (illegal monetary exchange) when he converted Korean Won into casino chips in Las Vegas in the first hearing. Since then he has maintained his innocence on all other allegations and his testimony in court was consistent.
According to Korean Law, unless the Prosecution asks to question the defendant, the Defense can present the case in a written testimony. During the hearing Seungri’s lawyer protested the Prosecution’s attempt to question Seungri without having prior arrangements with the Defense (who had given the Prosecution ample time and reached out several times).Despite the Prosecution’s disregard of the procedure, the Judge granted the questioning since they still had the right to question the defendant.
Seungri speaks in his defense
Seungri engaged the court without equivocation, answering questions in a straightforward manner.
In regards to Prostitution mediation charges, Seungri attested, “There is no reason to sell sex at home because my family lives in the house in front (of mine) and they frequented my house often because they know my password.” He explained that the allegations took place during his most busy schedule and he would not have the time or be in a position to pay someone for sexual relationships which he did not need. His statement underscored the fact that he lacked motive.
Previously, investigators did a deep investigation into Palawan’s birthday party suspecting it was a pretense for sexual favors. However, that line of investigation resulted in no indictments.
With regards to Seungri’s development of business relations with person A, Seungri asserted, “the business usually comes from talking to each other. The Christmas party (suspected cover to provide sexual favors) also provided accommodation for 300 acquaintances from home (South Korea) and abroad, and paid for the hotel with the same card. It’s (the party) not for the purpose of sexual entertainment.”
He clearly mentioned that the prosecution’s assumption that the women present at the party were prostitutes was wrong, since they were wives and girlfriends who attended with their partners.
Then, the Prosecution asked the questions, “There was a conversation in the group chat room, did you not know the contents?” and “Is the content about sexual favors (of Japanese investors)?” pertaining to prostitution mediation by bringing up a Kakao group chat conversation. This direct line of questioning is in reference to the Defense’s early testimony that Seungri was not involved and was unaware of any conversation that may have been linked to illegal activity.
Seungri responded, by pointing out that “the chat is only about hosting Japanese guests”. He also stated, “the content of the chat room is not my whole life.” He went on to clarify, “there were several chat rooms, and I used five chat SNS (social networking sites). If you miss a moment you can accumulate 500 messages. Just because I got a message (in the chat) doesn’t mean I saw it all and knew it.”
Seungri testified,” At the time, while preparing for the Christmas party, I called (invited) all my acquaintances from all over the world, including acquaintances from Vietnam, China, and Malaysia.”
Seungri declared, “Kakao chat rooms are not really my whole life. I apologize to the people (Korean custom to ask forgiveness for causing distress/inconvenience), but since it’s my chat room with only acquaintances, I made typos and exchanged rough conversations. I’m sorry.”
He concluded by attesting the fact that all the evidence and witnesses point to Yoo In Seok as the person who committed the crimes of prostitution mediation and that there was no evidence to point to his involvement.
For the allegations of Sharing a nude photo, Seungri reiterated, “I shared the picture in the advertisement text I received through WeChat. I just sent it as soon as I received it, and I never took the picture.”
No prostitution mediation took place
The Burden of Proof is solely on the shoulders of the Prosecution. Throughout the 24 hearings, the Prosecution attempted to connect Seungri as a co-conspirator with Prostitution charges to which another suspect already confessed. Their previous questioning implied that Seungri must have known of the intentions as he was in a chat room and that he hosted prostitution at his residence.
However, when Seungri took the stand, he was able to create doubt in the Prosecution’s version of events by revealing that firstly, he was unaware of any illegal activities and secondly, he had neither intent nor motive to commit prostitution mediation. With his parents living next door, he had little to no reason to host prostitutes at his residence. Finally, he never paid or exchanged money as testified by all the previous Prosecution’s witnesses.
In order for the Prosecution to return a guilty verdict on Prostitution charges they must convince the court that Seungri is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
For prostitution mediation charge they must have convinced the court that Seungri was 1) lured or tried to induce or elicit another person to engage in sexual intercourse with another person in exchange for money, and 2) the defendant did so with the specific intent to engage in sexual intercourse or any lewd act in exchange for money.
Specific Intent is an element of a solicitation crime that needs to be proven by the Prosecution as well. Specific Intent in prostitution mediation can be proven by an offer to pay money or other compensation (or receive either) in exchange for sexual favors. Gestures are generally not enough to prove this element.
Similarly, to the Prostitution charge (self-prostitution) they must convince the court that Seungri 1) engaged in sexual intercourse or any lewd act with another person in exchange for money, and 2) engaged in such an act willfully.
In addition to the agreement, the defendant must have performed an act in furtherance of engaging in sexual intercourse or any lewd act in exchange for money or other consideration. An “act in furtherance” of engaging in prostitution must be more than just accepting the offer. It must be something that makes it clear that an agreement to engage in prostitution has occurred.
After 11 hours of heated court battle the parties postponed closing statements. The next hearing will give both Prosecution and Defense an opportunity to cement their cases and say their final words in closing.
21 comments
Thank you sabah 💖🙏🍀💙🍀
Legal analysis and court proceedings were easy to follow. I appreciate the effort the author puts into writing an objective law backed article. Please include some of the defense’s case for the other charges when you cover the afternoon hearing.
Thank you so much for all the information and details
thank you for the legal analysis!
Thank you so much for probably being the only one sticking to writing the article objectively and succinctly. Please continue what you are doing. Thank you from the bottom of our heart
Thank you for providing a concise breakdown of what happened during the trial.
Thank you for this article. It is difficult to find articles that stick to facts without bias. Thanks again.
I am genuinely greatful to you and to this website for posting what a real article should be. The whole court proceedings from this website can be easily understood than those suspicious translations from we know where. More power to you 💛🍀💐
Very informative. Seungri is such a strong person. I hope and pray that he’ll get the justice he deserves.
Thank you for this very detailed article and for staying objective. I hope many people see this informative article 💛
It’s good to know that a legitimate media publishes Seungri’s case updates with objectivity and comprehensible legal details and not just clickbait misleading headlines. I thank the author and BM for rising above the culture of misinfomation and disinformation. Looking forward to your updates on this case until its closure.
Thank you for staying objective with this article.
Thank you for posting this and giving us a legal analysis. You helped me understand a lot more about what took place. We appreciate all your hard work:)
Thank you. You always help to understand the situation, and there aren’t many sources doing so about Seungri’s trial. This is really helpful!
Thanks for this!
Thank you for the informative article. It’s great to be able to read unbiased analysis comparing to what other media presents. Looking forward to the next one.
Sabah your insight into this case is much appreciated Thankyou
Thank you for this. Makes us feel a bit better now since prosecution highly proud of their 5 years sentences asking from judge.
Excellent and informative. Many thanks for the objectivity in the article and the easy to understand facts presented.
Very easy to understand, thank you!
Thank you Sabah. The world can’t say: we didn’t know the truth. Now everybody can know his (and witbesses’) side of the story.