A heated debate over Seungri’s sentence compared to his accomplices: more charges but lighter sentence?
Seungri definitely has the lightest sentence among those related to the “Burning Sun case” despite having more charges then Jung Joon young, Choi Jong Hoon and Yoo In Suk.
On Jan 27th, Seungri (BIGBANG’s ex-member) admitted 7 charges related to the “Burning Sun” controversy after a long time of continuous denial. The male idol was sentenced by the High Military Court of the Ministry of National Defense to a year and a half in prison and 1.15 billion won in fine, which is half the original 3-year sentence.
With this, the “Burning Sun” case has finally come to an end after 3 years. However, netizens are debating over Seungri’s sentence. Many claimed that this sentence is too light for what he had done, especially when compared to his accomplices Jung Joon young, Choi Jong Hoon and Yoo In Suk. What’s even more surprising is that, the aforementioned names all have less charges than Seungri but longer sentences than him, while the BIGBANG ex-member only receives a sentence of 1 year and 6 months despite having admitted 7 charges.
Final sentences for defendants in the Burning Sun Case:
- Jung Joon Young: 5 years in prison for sexual assault, gang raping, secretly filming and sharing sexual footage of victims without their consent
- Choi Jong Hoon: 2.5 years in prison for sexual assault, gang raping, secretly filming and sharing sexual footage of victims without their consent
- Yoo In Suk: 1 year and 8 months in prison and 3 years probation for embezzlement, prostitution mediation, and violation of Food Sanitation Act.
- Seungri: 1 year in prison and a fine of 1.15 billion won for prostitution, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, habitual gambling, violation of the Specific Economic Crimes Act, special violence instigation, and violation of Food Sanitation Act.
It is easy to notice that Seungri was indicted with more charges but received the lightest sentence. Apart from criticisms pointing out that the final sentence for Seungri is too light, many netizens suspected that the court judge might have considered the seriousness of the allegations before announcing the final punishment. Seungri might have committed many crimes, but the consequences were not as severe as what Jung Joon Young, Choi Jong Hoon, and Yoo In Suk had done. His attitude of admitting the crimes and repenting his faults could also be considered a reason for the judge to reduce his prison sentence.
