According to the Seoul metropolitan police on June 5, BIGBANG’s T.O.P will be prosecuted without detention for use of marijuana. The rapper already admitted to two instances of smoking marijuana during questioning, although he is denying two additional instances of smoking liquid marijuana, something that will be determined in trial.
See also: BIGBANG’s T.O.P Releases Official Hand-Written Apology About Marijuana Case
Police have also revealed that, in light of the recent marijuana charges, T.O.P was deemed unfit for duty in his current position in the police PR department and will transferred to a different police unit. Though it has yet to be determined where T.O.P will be transferred, it is likely that he will be headed to a more peripheral department located in Yangcheon District.
Following the transfer, as soon as T.O.P receives his official notice of prosecution, he will be removed from his new station in Yangcheon District and sent home, according to police procedure regarding officers under prosecution. Technically, T.O.P will still be considered a conscripted policeman, although his time on standby at home will not count toward his mandatory service.
In the event that T.O.P receives a sentence of over 18 months, he will be forcibly discharged from the military. If his sentence is anything shorter than 18 months, including not guilty, he will finish the remainder of his mandatory service upon his release.
SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) — Popular singer and actor T.O.P of boy band BIGBANG has been indicted without detention on charges of smoking marijuana, the prosecution said Monday.
Choi Seung-hyun — his real name — is suspected of smoking the banned substance four times with a 21-year-old would-be singer, only identified by her surname Han, at his home in Seoul in October last year, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
He is accused of smoking marijuana joints twice and inhaling it through an e-cigarette on two other occasions.
He has admitted to using the illegal drug only in the first two accounts and denied having smoked the substance in liquid form.
The 29-year-old rapper will immediately be removed from his current position as a conscripted policeman at the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul, where he’s been performing his mandatory military service since February, as soon as his arraignment is delivered from the prosecution, the police said.
His military service period is to be put on hold until a court reaches a verdict. If he receives a jail term of 18 months or more, he will be removed from his current post and have to re-enlist.
All able-bodied Korean men are required to complete 21 months of military service before the age of 35 in South Korea.
The use of marijuana is banned in South Korea and could be punished with a maximum of five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won (US$44,730).
He was initially under probe by police. While looking into Han’s drug abuse suspicions in March, police raided Choi’s home to secure evidence. He tested positive for the drug, according to police. Police referred his case to the prosecution in April.
During the police interrogation, T.O.P denied the allegations, saying he only smoked electronic cigarettes, they said. His accomplice, meanwhile, is known to have admitted to suspicions raised against her.
T.O.P from popular boy band BIGBANG (Yonhap file photo)
Source: Yonhap
T.O.P has officially been kicked out of his military base due to his marijuana drug scandal.
He will now have to re-enlist in the military again, resetting his ~2-year enlistment time.
T.O.P originally enlisted in the military on February 9th and has been in the army for 3 months, 27 days.
Those days will not be counted towards his new enlistment date, so he will have to complete an entire 1 Year, 9 Months once again.
This news comes only moments after police officially indicted T.O.P for the drug scandal.
Reports revealed that T.O.P is being accused of smoking marijuana 2 times and smoking liquid marijuana 2 times.
T.O.P has denied the liquid marijuana charges but confessed to smoking regularly twice.
Source: Koreaboo