BIGBANG's T.O.P expelled from army after drug indictment, has to re-enlist
Last week, it was reported that K-pop group BIGBANG’s T.O.P would be facing charges after testing positive for using marijuana in October 2016.
Earlier on Monday (5 June), several Korean media reported that the 29-year-old rapper will be formally charged over illegal drug use.
T.O.P, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, enlisted the Korean military as a conscripted policeman earlier in February.
The Korean military police issued a statement saying, “There is a law that states a soldier can be expelled if he is not fit to fulfill his duties. We will soon be ordering him to leave the division.”
“A soldier cannot be accepted back into a division that he has been expelled from, unless there are outstanding circumstances. His enlistment as an army policeman is now over.”
According to allkpop, after T.O.P leaves the army, he will have to go through investigations and trials for this charge. And if his trial ends in anything other than imprisonment, he will have to re-enlist in the army.
If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison, or a fine of up to 50 million won.
He reportedly smoked marijuana with a 22-year-old female trainee, Han Seo-hee, on three occasions at his home between 9 and 12 October 2016.
Since news of T.O.P’s marijuana usage broke, he released a public apology to his fans, saying, “I regret what I have done. I deserve to be punished in any way fit for wounding my members, my company, the public, my fans and my family.”
BIGBANG’s leader, G-Dragon, who was also accused of drug use in 2011, also made an apology on behalf of T.O.P at the band’s recent fan-meeting in Japan on 3 June.
G-Dragon is scheduled to have his second full-scale concert in Singapore on 24 and 25 June at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Related:
BIGBANG’s T.O.P admits to smoking marijuana, faces charges
BIGBANG’s G-Dragon gets a forest from fans for his birthday
Tickets to BIGBANG G-Dragon’s concert in Singapore start from $148
Follow Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore on Facebook.
