Korean: 승리
Gwangju, Gwangsan-gu, Wolgye-dong
Country:South Korea
Lee Seung-hyun was a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. In the mid-2000s, Seungri rose to prominence as one of three vocalists and youngest member of the South Korean boy band BIGBANG under YG Entertainment, which eventually became one of the best-selling digital group of all-time in Asia and one of the best-selling boy bands in the world. With the release of the group's second studio album Remember (2008), in which the second single released, "Strong Baby".
On March 11, 2019, Seungri departed from BIGBANG and retired from the entertainment industry after being involved in different legal cases.
He was indicted in 2020 after the police investigation of the Burning Sun scandal but the investigation showed that he had no connection to that case. The same happened with the Chat Molka case, both cases being completely different from the original case for which he was brought to trial. His original case was mainly centered on the illegal exchange of money, gambling and allegedly contracting sexual services for other people.
Seungri's military trial commenced on September 16, 2020, where he denied 8 out of his 9 charges, only admitting to the violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. A military court sentenced Seungri to three years of imprisonment and a fine of 1.15 billion won (970,000 USD) on 12 August 2021. During the investigation, the defence showed evidence of the intervention of politicians in the case and police abuse, as well as altered texts presented by different media outlets that led to the confusion of the case and pressure from the general public until today. He appealed the sentence but the military court denied any appeal despite having all the testimonies in his favor and no evidence of the crimes for which he was being prosecuted according to the legal documents reported.
In February 2023, Seungri completed his sentence and was released from prison. Since then he has kept a low profile with his family and close friends.