Will Suga Be Cleared? — Real CCTV Footage Sheds Light on BTS Suga's DUI Controversy

On August 14th, Dong-A Korea and TV Chosun released a clip from a CCTV footage, showing who appears to be an intoxicated BTS Suga riding his electric scooter and stumbling down as he took a left turn toward the Nine One Hannam building in Yongsan-gu, where he lives. He was then approached by three riot police officers who happen to be patrolling the area, and booked for violating South Korea's Road Traffic Act because he was still riding what is considered to be a motorized vehicle, which is not allowed on sidewalks or bicycle paths.

TV CHOSUN

【映像単独】
BTSシュガーの飲酒運転動線確認···作業室から移動中に居住地の正門前で倒れる

TV朝鮮が飲酒状態で電動スクーターを運転した疑いで警察に立件されたBTSメンバーシュガーの動線が盛り込まれた閉鎖回路(CC)TV映像を単独で確保した。… pic.twitter.com/orBMgTRWob

— kx2mamaV ーType1 KTH (@v_kx2mama) August 14, 2024

Before this was released, a South Korean broadcasting station first televised what they claimed to be a CCTV footage of Suga riding what looked like a motorcycle at high speed. Following this, rumors spread about the BTS member speeding and crashing spread all over the internet, igniting different opinions from kpop fans. The said video has since been taken down by the broadcasting station.

In his first official statement, Suga apologized to fans, explaining that he was riding his electric kickboard, heading home when the incident happened and that he was unaware that he was not allowed to use such device even at a short distance. "No one was harmed nor any facilities were damaged during this process, but this is my responsibility and I have no excuses, so I bow my head and apologize to everyone. I apologize to everyone who was hurt by my careless and wrong actions, and I will be more careful with my actions in the future to prevent something like this from happening again," the rapper said.

Meanwhile, according to Dispatch, the police has confirmed that at that time of the incident, Suga's blood alcohol content was 0.227%, which is the level at which his license can be revoked.

The police plan to summon Suga to continue the investigation about his drunk driving. The summons date has not been set yet. However, the punishment is expected to be increased. If the alcohol concentration is 0.2 or higher, the maximum sentence is 5 years or less, or a fine of 20 million won or less.

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