Ex-BIGBANG star Seungri set for release after serving 1.5 years in prison

Ex-BIGBANG member Seungri will be completing his prison sentence this week, effectively making the former K-pop idol a free man after serving over a year in prison for running a prostitution ring.

Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, 32, will end his one-year-and-six-months prison sentence on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Some Korean social media users reportedly expressed concern that the disgraced K-pop star might turn to YouTube after his release.

“Please don’t return to YouTube I don’t want to see you at all,” one person commented.

“We’ll definitely see him on YouTube,” another reportedly wrote, while one person speculated that he might return to what got him into trouble in the first place, writing, “He’s going to return to that underworld.”

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Seungri retired from the music industry after being charged with running a prostitution ring for businessmen in March 2019 ahead of his mandatory military service on March 25, 2019.

Prosecutors initially sought a five-year sentence for Seungri, but the General Military Court of the Ground Operations Command in Yongin ruled in August 2021 that he would be serving three years instead.

Seungri’s prison sentence was later reduced further to one year and six months in January 2022 after he pleaded guilty to all nine charges, including the purchase of prostitution services, embezzlement and special violence instigation, to name a few.

Seungri was reportedly transferred from the military to a civilian prison, where he served his final sentencing.

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