A member of K-pop megagroup BTS apologized on Wednesday after being accused with operating an electric scooter while intoxicated.
Officers cited SUGA, 31, after he fell from his bike the night before in Seoul’s trendy Yongsan neighborhood, according to the Yonhap news agency and local police.
Posting to social media platform Weverse, the 31-year-old BTS star said he had driven home “thinking it was a close distance and forgetting that you can’t use the electric scooter under the influence, I violated the road traffic act”.
“I fell while parking the electric scooter in front of my house, and there was a police officer nearby. I was given a breathalyzer test and subsequently had my license revoked and was fined.”
Police said they took SUGA to a nearby police station after smelling alcohol on his breath, Yonhap reported, adding his blood alcohol level was 0.08 percent.
“Although no one was harmed and no property was damaged, this is entirely my responsibility with no excuses,” SUGA said in his Weverse post.
“I apologise to those who have been hurt by my carelessness and wrongful behaviour, and I will ensure that this does not happen again in the future.”
The band’s agency, HYBE, also apologized, saying in a statement that SUGA was wearing a helmet while riding the scooter for a distance of approximately 500 metres (1640 feet).
Since last September, SUGA has been completing his mandatory military service as a social service agent.
HYBE further stated that he will accept any additional disciplinary penalty related to the incident, which has created uproar on social media.
The seven members of the world’s most popular boy band have been on a self-described “hiatus” since 2022 to serve in the military, which South Korea mandates of all men under the age of 30 owing to tensions with the nuclear-armed North.
J-hope, the next BTS member to finish, will be discharged in October. The remainder of the band, including SUGA, will finish their service in June 2025.