FTISLAND’s Lee Hong Ki has left a brief response to the ongoing controversy involving his bandmate Choi Jong Hoon.

On March 14, Lee Hong Ki took to his Instagram and posted a photo of his pet, Monggeul. Along with the photo, the FTISLAND vocalist included the hashtags “Monggeul” and “I give up.”

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#몽글이#포기야

A post shared by 홍기 이 (@skullhong12) on Mar 13, 2019 at 9:25pm PDT

Afterwards, fans brought up the controversy about Choi Jong Hoon in the comment section, some of them asking about the meaning behind the second hashtag. One particular comment was written in Japanese, “I beg you. Please don’t give up on Choi Jong Hoon.”

In response, Lee Hong Ki left a short comment in Korean and said, “I give up.”

Following the reports of a chatroom that includes Seungri and Jung Joon Young, where the participants shared illegally taken videos and photos of women, both names of the FTISLAND members came up as possible participants of the chatroom. Afterwards, Lee Hong Ki’s name was cleared by the reporter who released the initial reports, and FNC Entertainment denied Choi Jong Hoon’s involvement in the chatroom.

However, it was later revealed that Choi Hong Joon was a member of the chatroom, in which he allegedly talked about asking personal favors to the police to cover up his drunk driving incident from three years ago.

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As announced previously, Jung Joon Young and Seungri both arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on March 14 to be investigated for several charges.

Jung Joon Young arrived in the morning to be questioned for the first time regarding charges of filming and circulating illegal hidden camera footage.He commented, “I am sorry. I apologize for causing trouble to all the citizens of the nation. I will diligently participate in the investigation,” and continuously repeated, “I apologize.”

Seungri arrived in the afternoon for his second questioning after first being investigated on February 27 for charges including violating the law on the punishment of prostitution mediation.He remarked, “I once again bow my head in apology to all citizens of the nation and the people who have received harm because of me. Rather than saying more, I will participate in the investigation diligently with truthful responses.”

CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings, Seungri’s business partner who was involved in the chatroom with suspected prostitution mediation, also arrived at the police station around 12:50 p.m. KST but did not stand in front of media.

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On March 14, Min Gap Ryong, the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, attended a meeting for the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Council. During the meeting, he revealed further plans to investigate the alleged ties between the police and various controversies involving the club Burning Sun.

The Commissioner General stated, “We will guarantee the citizens’ rights to know and secure the investigation’s transparency and fairness. Furthermore, not only will we investigate the suspicions of corruption by the police, but we will also carry out internal inspection and convict those who are confirmed to have committed crimes regardless of rank. In the end, we will announce the final results to the public.”

In addition, the Commissioner General also revealed that they will be hosting a nationwide investigation. He explained, “[We will investigate] not only the clubs in the Gangnam district, but also those of similar organizations across the country. In order to eradicate the source of all absurd acts, we will host an extensive investigation in every direction regarding matters such as drugs, sexual assault, taking and sharing hidden camera videos, and connections to the police.”

Min Gap Ryong continued, “By deploying all capable police officers, we will pull out the root of the anti-social climate that instigates crime and illegal activities in its entirety.”

He concluded, “We will not forget that the police are citizens in uniform, and we will carry out our mission as guardians of safety and human rights. With sincere communication and kind-hearted law enforcement, we will earn trust from the citizens one step at a time.”

The day prior, the Commissioner General acknowledged a possibility of high-ranked police officers from the past abusing their power to protect the celebrities in a chatroom including Seungri and Jung Joon Young.

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AOA’s Mina has responded on Instagram to a netizen who tried to link her to the recent controversies surrounding Seungri.

On March 14, she uploaded a screenshot of an online comment that said, “I think Mina is involved in Seungri’s incident.”

In the caption, she wrote, “What? That’s not true.”

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예? 아닙니다

A post shared by 권민아 (@kvwowv) on Mar 13, 2019 at 7:53am PDT

Seungri is currently under investigation on charges of providing sexual escort services to business investors. The investigation involves the existence of a chatroom between various male celebrities and non-celebrities; singer Jung Joon Young is also currently under investigation for sharing secretly-taken videos of sexual acts in this chatroom.

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On the March 13 episode of SBS’s “8 O’Clock News,” text messages from a group chatroom including FTISLAND’s Choi Jong Hoon, Seungri, Jung Joon Young, and more were shared.

The messages were sent after Choi Jong Hoon’s drunk driving incident in February 2016. He received a fine of 2.5 million won (approximately $2,200) and had his license suspended for 100 days. A statement from FNC Entertainment earlier on March 13 confirmed that he kept the incident quiet and did not tell his agency.

After it was reported that Choi Jong Hoon had asked the police to cover up the incident so it wouldn’t be reported in the media, FNC stated that Choi Jong Hoon did not make any requests to the media or police.

On SBS’s “8 O’Clock News,” text messages were shared that show a discussion in the group chatroom about a payment being made to cover up the incident.

According to a recreation of the KakaoTalk messages in the report by SBS, Choi Jong Hoon shared an article on March 7, 2016 about how an idol had been revealed to have been caught drunk driving. “Thankfully, I survived because of the favor from [name redacted] hyung,” he said.

Mr. Kim replied, “Jong Hoon had a good experience. You were handcuffed, ran away in front of the police, and must have felt a thrill.”

Jung Joon Young said, “Jong Hoon could have made it on to the first page [of the paper] this time,” and Mr. Heo said he could have been the topic of a featured article. Mr. Park added, “He could have become famous.”

Choi Jong Hoon replied, “Why would there be an article about me? It was so quietly taken care of.”

Mr. Kim said, “Quietly? Do you know how far Mr. Yoo went for you?” Mr. Yoo may be CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings.

An included message from Seungri (separated by a line from the other messages) also said, “Don’t think that it’ll be covered up the next time you drink and drive. [Name redacted] hyung used his own money to keep them from telling.”

FNC Entertainment previously stated that Choi Jong Hoon will be cooperating with police investigations and will halt all activities for the time being.

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SBS funE’s Kang Kyung Yoon has released a new exclusive article on the alleged connection between the police, Seungri, and others in the same chatroom.

After receiving the KakaoTalk data from lawyer Bang Jung Hyun on February 22, the Anti-Corruption Survey and Evaluation Division of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission closely analyzed it for 15 days and transferred it to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, not the police, on March 12.

At an interview with SBS on March 12, lawyer Bang Jung Hyun said, “It was data containing connections with several governmental authorities, and I was especially suspicious about the connection with the police. I was doubtful about how justly the investigation would have been handled if I had handed it over to the police.”

SBS funE received the KakaoTalk messages and analyzed them.

In July 2016, Seungri opened a club named Monkey Museum in the Gangnam district of Seoul. However, the police were dispatched to the club on the day of its opening, and Seungri was investigated for having illegal structures in the building.

The conversation talked about the new club and went as follows:

Mr. Kim: I think we’ll hit the jackpot if we just solve the problem with the air conditioner [in the club].

Seungri: Yeah, you’re right.

Mr. Kim: I saw that [CEO Yoo] texted with the “police chief” yesterday.

Mr. Kim: I think the problem with the person telling on us will be solved as well.

Seungri: What did he say?

Mr. Kim: It was really long. Yesterday, another business took a photo of the inside of [Monkey Museum] and reported it.

Mr. Kim: The chief said something suggesting that the other business had told on us because they were jealous and that we didn’t have to worry because he would take care of all of it.

Mr. Kim is the same person that allegedly sent the prostitutes to the hotel rooms when they arranged sexual escort services for business investors. He was also accused of sharing illegal hidden cameras in the chatroom with Jung Joon Young.

SBS funE states that it is hard to fully believe Mr. Kim’s messages because he spelled “Commissioner General of the police” as another word in Korean that means “police chief.” It is also unclear whether he is referring to the Commissioner General of the police at that time or the Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Further investigation will reveal whether Mr. Kim had falsely reported to Seungri or if they had real connections with high-ranking police officials.

SBS funE contacted Mr. Kim and attempted to receive a response, but he did not say anything.

They succeeded in interviewing CEO Yoo, who said, “It’s true that I was at Monkey Museum’s opening ceremony. But I don’t know any sources from the police. I don’t know the Commissioner General or the Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and I’ve never met them or been in the same place with them.”

Seungri stated through his lawyer, “Monkey Museum received criminal punishment and a fine for violating the Food Sanitation Act before. It is not true that he tried to cover up police investigations.”

Meanwhile, the current Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, Min Gap Ryong, held a press conference on March 13 and stated, “I will check thoroughly to find out if there was an incident that the police were involved in at the time.”

SBS’s 8 O’Clock News on March 13 KST will report on further suspicions of connections with the police that were found in the KakaoTalk messages. Reporter Kang Kyung Yoon, who first reported about Seungri’s sexual escort service issue, will also be appearing on the news to talk about the matter.

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Top Left Photo Credit: Xportsnews

Kang Shin Myung, a former Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, denied the allegations tying him to the chatroom including Seungri and Jung Joon Young.

On March 13, the current Commissioner General Min Gap Ryong held a press conference to address lawyer Bang Jung Hyun’s claims that he found several conversations suggesting ties with the police in the chatroom including various male celebrities.

During the press conference, the Commissioner General acknowledged a possibility of high-ranked police officers from the past abusing their power to protect the celebrities. He also said that he will be checking thoroughly to find out if there was an incident that the police was involved in at the time [that the messages were exchanged].”

The Commissioner General at the time was Kang Shin Myung, who held his position from August 2014 to August 2016. In response, Kang Shin Myung refuted the claims, “With all of my honor at stake, I am stating that I have no relation to the matter. I only became aware of the case [involving Jung Joon Young and Seungri] today, and I know nothing about it.”

He continued, “I learned about Seungri for the first time through this incident, and I have no relation to him whatsoever. It is not worth responding to each and every [accusation].”

Kang Shin Myung also addressed the allegations of FTISLAND’s Choi Jong Hoon asking personal favors to the police to cover up his drunk driving incident from three years ago. He responded, “The fact that a Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency can cover up a drunk driving incident is just against common sense.”

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