SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Suga, a member of K-pop sensation BTS, apologized Wednesday for driving an electric vehicle while intoxicated.
His label, Big Hit Music, said Min Yoon-gi, famously known as Suga, was driving an “electric kickboard” Tuesday night when he fell while parking it. A police officer spotted him and administered a breathalyzer test which Suga failed, leading to his license being revoked and a fine, the label added.
An electric kickboard refers to a type of vehicle without a seat. However, police told local media Suga’s vehicle had a seat and resembled an electric scooter under traffic law. The type of vehicle affects the penalty for drunk driving.
Yongsan Police Station in Seoul reportedly booked him for violating the Road Traffic Act. It's currently unclear whether the police have begun the investigation process. Multiple calls to the station’s spokesperson went unanswered.
The K-pop star issued an apology on Weverse, an online fan platform, saying he was driving after consuming alcohol at dinner.
“I come to you with a very heavy heart and deep apologies for disappointing you with this regrettable incident,” Suga wrote on Weverse. “I thought complacently that it was a short distance, not realizing I was not allowed to ride the electric scooter while intoxicated, breaking the road traffic act."
Suga has been doing his mandatory military service as a social service agent since September 2023. Such agents typically work regular work hours and are allowed to return home after work hours.
Big Hit Music, his label, also apologized, stating: “He will accept any disciplinary measures from the place of duty regarding actions that caused social controversy as a social service worker.”
According to the spokesperson from the Military Manpower Administration, the incident will not impact his current status as an agent since it happened outside of official working hours.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve in the army, navy or air force for 18-21 months under a conscription system established due to threats from rival North Korea.
Individuals with certain physical or mental conditions may instead serve for 21 months at non-military institutions such as welfare centers, community service centers and post offices.
FILE - BTS member Suga attends an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 12, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy" Combs was arrested late Monday in New York, where he faces a sealed criminal indictment, prosecutors announced late Monday.
Details of the charges weren't immediately announced by prosecutors, but the hip-hop mogul has faced a stream of allegations by women in recent months who accused him of sexual assault.
The U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, said in a statement that federal agents arrested Combs. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, issued a statement saying: “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
He added that Combs had gone to New York last week in anticipation of the charges being brought.
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said.
Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby and is in federal custody, said a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The criminal charges are a major but not unexpected takedown of one of the most prominent producers and most famous names in the history of hip-hop.
The federal investigation of the 58-year-old Combs was revealed when Homeland Security Investigations agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs' mansions in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25.
His defense attorney Aaron Dyer the day after the raids called them “a gross use of military-level force,” said the allegations were “meritless,” and said Combs was “innocent and will continue to fight" to clear his name.
Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was at the center of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s as the partner and producer of the Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in 1997. But like many of those who survived the era, his public image had softened with age into a genteel host of parties in Hollywood and the Hamptons, a fashion-forward businessman, and a doting father who spoiled his kids, some of whom lost their mother in 2018.
But a different image began emerging in November, when his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, became the first of several people to sue him for sexual abuse with stories of a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fueled settings where some of those involved were coerced or cajoled into sex.
In her November lawsuit, Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape. Her suit also alleged Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions” and by engaging in “harboring and transportation of Plaintiff for purposes of sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”
It also said he compelled her to help him traffic male sex workers Combs would force Cassie to have sex with while he filmed.
The suit was settled settled the following day, but its reverberations would last far longer. Combs lost lingering allies, supporters and those reserving judgment when CNN in May aired a leaked video of him punching Cassie, kicking her and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.
The following day, in his first real acknowledgement of wrongdoing since the stream of allegations began, Combs posted a social media video apologizing, saying “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I’m disgusted now.” Cassie’s lawsuit was followed by at least a half-dozen others in the ensuing months.
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.
Another woman who filed a lawsuit, April Lampros, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs and a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Combs and those around him began that lasted for years.
Combs and his attorneys denied nearly all of the lawsuits’ allegations.
While authorities did not publicly say that the lawsuits set off the criminal investigation, Dyer said when the warrants were served that the case was based on “meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie and Lampros did.
As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades Along with the Notorious B.I.G. he worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.
Combs’ roles in his businesses beyond music — including lucrative private-label spirits, a media company and the Sean John Fashion line — took major hits when the allegations arose.
The consequences were even greater when the leaked beating video emerged. Howard University cut ties with him, and he returned his key to the city of New York at the request of the mayor.
Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
