The incident involving Kpop star Suga, who is a member of the popular group BTS, driving under the influence of alcohol, is currently the focus of public attention in South Korea.
Suga was found to have been riding an electric scooter alone when he lost control and fell to the ground in Hannam-dong, Yongsan, Seoul around 23:00 on August 6. Upon checking his blood alcohol level, he had a result that exceeded the threshold for revoking his driver's license (above 0.08%).
Suga and his management company, Big Hit Music, quickly issued a statement acknowledging their mistake and apologizing. However, they were immediately accused of lying in an attempt to downplay the severity of the incident.
Suga and Big Hit Music both stated that the vehicle Suga used was a "kickboard electric" (an electric scooter without a seat). However, the police countered that the vehicle Suga was riding was a "scooter electric" (an electric scooter with a seat). It was even likened to an electric motorcycle.
Furthermore, in Big Hit's statement, it was mentioned: "After traveling approximately 500m, Suga fell while the vehicle was stationary." Suga himself said: "I thought it was just a short distance, and I didn't realize that driving an electric kickboard while intoxicated was a violation of road traffic laws."
However, a post pointed out that the actual distance Suga traveled was much longer.
If one ignores the pedestrian lanes and follows the path of the CCTV footage, the distance is approximately 740m. If one uses the vehicle to participate in traffic, the distance is approximately 2.8km. Therefore, the 500m distance mentioned by Big Hit is likely a mere fantasy.
Suga's lie has made him face an even greater wave of public outrage. On the online community theqoo, on August 7 alone, there were dozens of posts about Suga becoming a trend with massive engagement.
Among them, many netizens demanded that Suga leave the group. They also pointed out previous cases where idols had to leave their groups due to driving under the influence of alcohol, such as Lim Young Min of AB6IX (June 2020), Heo Chan of Victon (October 2022), and Teo of DKB Teo (November 2023).
On theqoo, South Korean fans commented:
“Suga, leave the group."
“Suga should leave the group if he thinks about the other members.”
“Driving under the influence of alcohol is a deliberate act of murder.”
“All idols who drive under the influence of alcohol should leave the group.”
“He has committed a crime, and now he's lying about it. Leave the group. I don't want to see him again. It's a relief that there were no accidents.”
