So the Suga drunk driving (or drunk riding an electric moped) incident in South Korea shows no signs of simmering down. This week there has been funeral wreaths sent by angry BTS fans to the HYBE office demanding Suga’s removal from the group. A huge BTS fan site also shut down abruptly by the administrators, and a news report was released of an unnamed source claiming that Suga was rude and zoning out during his military service training as a social worker. jTBC released street cam footage of a man riding an electrical moped recklessly down a major street and claimed that was Suga which made the public even more angry. Two days later another newspaper released the correct footage which showed Suga falling over in the electric moped right outside his condo building as stated in the original statement and then police came over. Then jTBC apologized and acknowledged the earlier footage was not Suga and incorrectly imputed to him. During this whole time the police are still handling the matter having revoked his license and any remaining punishment to be determined, and Suga is laying low.
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Oh well. I have seen so many idols got dui cases, some pull through it, some got eternal ban. Let’s see how this ends.
But seriously why wouldn’t you just call taxi if you’re drunk?
It’s probably not ingrained into Koreans enough. Like, they probably think they are still sober enough and the chances of getting caught over a short distance is unlikely.
I know the temptation… driving home in short distance…
For me I wouldn’t make myself suffer after feeling hammered from drinks, would just call taxi and sleep until I get to destination 🤦🏻♀️
They really know how to waste money…
These fans will support you and give you their money but they also demand you listen to them. Double edge sword…
Yeah, I was about to say, such a waste of money that could be donated to organizations that help people with alcohol addictions. But with S. Korean’s drinking culture, maybe those organizations don’t even exist. 😂
The death wreaths were most likely not sent by ARMY but antis. I’d been in a Kpop fandom for years. Antis of any popular group would go extra miles on useless acts like this against their idols’ rivals. At the end, BTS will most likely be unscathed. Kpoppers wasted money to vent. Nonetheless, it should be less expensive than seeing a psychiatrist cos BTS is more popular than their bias. LOL.
I just read elsewhere some are sent by BTS fanclubs themselves…but again online news cannot be trusted so dont quote me as I cannot confirm. 🤫
@HL – yeah I would take all news reports and rumours about this with a sackful of salt since even the so called footage of Suga turned out to be NOT of him, who knows if the claims that these trucks are from “fans” is just another piece of fake news?
@Royal We, Yes..that is the best way to treat the news… I read for leisure.. some are really funny. There is really no trusted news media these days.
@HL – the Korean antis or fanclubs or fans-turned-antis are delusional if they think Suga is going to be removed from the group over this
It’s like they forgot BTS is popular internationally and I don’t think overseas fans treat DUIs as a career-ender the way Koreans do. The rights and wrongs of that can be debated but I doubt he’s going anywhere unless he committed a Burning Sun type of offence or killed/seriously injured someone (which he hasn’t).
No need to mention that BTS generate big money for South Korea .I don’t see them killing the goose that lays the golden eggs ! With that said , police should do actively the job . I just hope that it will not end with a suicide as Lee Sung Kyung unless Suga doesn’t care as the guys of Burning sun scandal .
I don’t understand why people insist on trying to drive any type of vehicle when they are impaired so I’m not trying to justify what he did. However, I find the moral outrage and condemnation ironic coming from a culture that glorifies and promotes hard drinking like it’s an everyday thing. Most of the dramas I’ve watched have at least one or two scenes in them of the characters getting blackout drunk, and nobody seems to think there’s a problem with that. He’s just doing what has been ingrained in him by the culture.
@Christina L
“He’s just doing what has been ingrained in him by the culture” – JUST STOP!!!
@Christina, can’t blame you for having that impression about SK drinking culture. I also got the same idea from what Kdrama has promoted in each story they tried to sell.
My former PCP who is a white lady marrying a Korean guy told me that SK people had very high percentage of diabetes cos they loved rice. Now I wonder if SK people also have very high percentage of liver disease cos they love alcohol. LOL but this isn’t funny actually.
Sending funeral wreaths is a bit extreme. There are better ways to express disappointment.
lol the funeral wreaths are hilarious and dramatic but it does get their points across. I don’t really care about idol drama and tbh I haven’t been following what’s happening. But DUI deserves flack regardless of vehicle, circumstance, or person. So I get why the fans are pissed.
true! real fans actually sent truck immediately to remove them. Anti fans are planning to do another batch including protest tracks but real fans are getting ready to intercept this actions.
All of that is so wild like if I don’t like a celebrity I just don’t watch or listen to them. No I won’t run to save the day like that either to remove the wreaths. They spent it and put it there why do I have to take it down? It is their business to handle not mine. Like wow these fans are beyond what my mind can handle. lol
@Rero
It’s like an echo chamber. When same minded people gather it starts going extreme. I was in similar circle in the past and I still wonder what’s going on in my mind back then
They were not real bts fans. They were antis trying to look like bts fans. Real fans wouldn’t do such things
Are this for sure funeral wreaths? I saw such wreaths a lot of times on korean fanmeetings, concerts etc.
Well, probably these people don’t know a better way to spend their money. I also saw a few times how deranged fans/haters sent a trucks to agencies building with some hating words towards some idol, but never saw this led to the consequences they wanted.
And it’s not the first time JTBC released misinformation. They did that with GD a year ago, and they made a public apology after his lawyer said about a lawsuit.
But I still can’t understand that these footages changing. He was drunk? Yes. He drove his moped or whatever it was? Yes. That’s all, case is closed. I don’t know that they’re still doing and trying to discuss, just let to police to do their job and move on.
The footage JTBC published was a man driving a scooter on the road drunk. Suga was on those electric kickboards with detachable seat and on the sidewalk. They aren’t the same thing. They don’t pose the same threat levels either. I am not saying Suga deserves leniency for his transgressions. But facts are still facts. Truth isn’t interchangeable. Because JTBC released a wrong footage, everyone accused Suga of lying about his initial statement and he got massive hate. He didn’t lie. Journalists are meant to be responsible in high profile cases, not lax to create sensationalism. If people want to hold Suga responsibile for his wrongs, they can and should. But it shouldn’t be based on lies.
this honestly feels a bit Pinocchio in how the media is instrumental in creating a witch hunt, and that drama came out in 2014.
He drove drunk, yes he should obviously get the punishment for that but the funeral wreath crowd sound as psychotic as the superfans who refuse to accept that he is to blame for breaking the law. He should be criticised and punished for what he actually did (operate a scooter drunk), not what he HASN’T done (lie about it, drive the vehicle on the road).
Oh, now I understood, tahnks for explanation. Seems JTBC didn’t learn anything after their sh*tty behavior during GD and LSK case
Yes… wreaths. it is on the printed words..
I know this is wreaths, but I saw them a lot of times on korean celebrities events. Even k-pop groups sent them to each other on concerts to wish a good luck, so I’m not sure these wreaths considered as funeral in Korea
@Olesya1, The focus is on the printed words… not the wreath. Wreath is just a style of flower presentation. Even at Christmas…we have Christmas wreaths, new business opening etc…wreath does not mean for death only. it is the words on the banner that matters, not style of flower arrangements.
I forgot to mention the types of flower chosen says alot too. White chrysanthemums is common flowers used for funeral.
@HL context makes everything lol As a foreigner I would not have a clue if you did not mention the distinction. I get why some would be confused. From just drama viewing won’t fill that context.
@Rero, very true…Drama may not explain all practise.
Ooh, thanks for explanation, Gosh, they even wrote something relate to funeral?? Disgusting people, seriously need to check their heads.
I watched a pretty convincing conspiracy theory about the South Korean govt using Suga for a govt cover up. I mean, a scandal with a BTS member, who’s responsible for sustaining a percentage of the South Korean economy, would definitely shift the focus off of the govt. I honestly took the commentary lightly lol, until they released the real footage of Suga falling over by his gate. Uh… that’s definitely interesting. I don’t know whether to believe the breathalyzer number or not now.
I feel like he was always the one member super pushing no scandals for their group. Plus, he already had a serious bike injury AND he’s doing his military service right now, so it’s just weird that he would put himself through all of this when he’s always talking about how the press can turn anything. Stress can do all kinds of stuff to any human, but it doesn’t seem super consistent with who he was presenting himself as.
If Korean dramas have taught me anything, it’s that POLICE WORK is insanely sh*tty, the PRESS is greedy, and CORRUPTION is rife. What’s worse is that REAL LIFE cases in South Korea demonstrates this reality for their citizens.
Whatever Suga has to answer to, he’ll have to answer to. If he’s vindicated, music’s gonna be 🔥🔥🔥
Oh well seems like those fans did a good job to convince you.
Lol. I’m a fan on my own. Suga, in particular, is one of my faves. But I’ve also had to chase a cop chasing my drunk dad driving to his 3rd shift job, so…
I’m not FOR any kind of intoxicated driving.
It was careless of him past 1 drink to drive home on his own. For me, 1 beer and a shot is pushing it for my own body without the help of fries and water—it takes like 1 hour for me to come off of even a buzz—so I think it’s irresponsible for anyone to flirt with their own personal limit and drive.
With that said though, I’ve read so many disgusting stories of corruption in Korea, I always have doubts in their governmental/legal system now. (I live in the Unite States of America, so trust that I feel the same about my own system.)
Oh please. He was drunk, and this is his fault.Any popular korean celebrity with DUI will create a huge noise. Especially BTS member.
“He’s not scandalous guy, he had a bake injury, it’s just a weird, police work is sh*tty” – you know how you sound? Like a hardcore fan. You trying to put off a blame from him for his actions and to put it on someone else.
Yes, media lit a fire, they trying hard to milk his scandal, and they don’t care to release false info, and they can create a hatetrain out of not a big deal, but it doesn’t make him innocent.
Omgah, did you not read the part that said whatever he needs to answer to he needs to answer to. I’m a NORMAL person who doesn’t worship celebrities. Sometimes it’s entertaining to play the parasocial game, but I’m a regular person 🙋🏻♀️😅
Yes, I read it, and second paragraph of your comment as well.
🫰
Holy cow, sending funeral wreaths!? If only people were this serious about more important things in this world, we’d live in a better world.
@neen – right?! It seems more malicious than just criticising him or something, and honestly kind of psychotic (spend your hard earned money on things and people you like, not things you hate)
ARMY here – the fandom does NOT want Suga to be kicked out because of this. We have suspicion about who really sent those wreaths because it’s not the way we operate when we protest something. Most of us acknowledge that what he did was wrong – it’s irresponsible. He could have just used a taxi. In the end, he accepted full responsibility and apologized. The police revoked his license. Most fans are fine with this consequence for his own stupid action. However, he was not lying when he said it was a kickback with a seat and the distance was 500 m. He was going so slow that the man walking on the side walk was going faster than him. He did not hurt anyone but himself by falling over when he tried to park. What’s insane is the clear misinformation by reputable national media and lots of people wanting to try to make this case more serious than what it actually was in reality.
Too many Army fans… one cannot speak for others. There are always the odd balls who just does thing differently. But their action will bring bad name and rep to whole group.
He wasn’t going slow. Rewatch the video, it was edited. All cars drove on one speed, but after Suga showed on the screen all of them suddenly started to go slower. I think some Armys wanted to look this case as unharmful as it can be and started to spread edited video, and other didn’t notice it. But anyway, I think it doesn’t big enough to hate Suga or to act like he’s a dangerous criminal. He made a mistake and probably won’t repeat it in the future, so people need to calm down. And Army shouldn’t spread misinformation as well, there isn’t need to do that.
I dont like his fans shielding him as if this case was a simple case. But, sending him a death wrath is simply did by his antifans or probably solo fans. Army are protecting him at all cost. They will close their eyes for whatever bts boys did. Let alone sending him this. No no. It’s 1000% sent by antis.
I am not into kpop at all and yet my blood is boiling. I really cannot stand shady press. Suga probably wouldn’t sue because people would read it as he’s not remorseful enough consistently he could have caused serious damage.which isn’t a lie, but I wish they’d hold their press accountable so they don’t go running with sensational but unchecked stories and videos. These things have killed more celebs, the shady press. Jtbc is a disgrace, I don’t know how broadcasting works but I sure hope they get heavily penalized. And no, I don’t care for their apologies or excuses.
That being said, those antis sending wreaths need to chill out, and perhaps try donating the money to orphanages or something and stop championing foolishness, if he has broken a law, which will be determined after the police investigation, then he’ll answer to the law, these whining helps no one. I hope he’s strong, suga fighting!!
I was curious and watched the real CCTV footage of Suga “drunken DRIVING.” He was on a kid’s scooter, slowly gliding along the sidewalk and fell in front of the building. LMAO. This “scandal” is much ado about nothing.
Good luck BTS!
Now BTS’ agency, Big Hit, is going on a legal route to sue jTBC for defamation. Given Big Hit’s mother company, Hybe, being a public trading company and thriving on BTS’ success, I expect jTBC to pay high price for misreporting if the legal case against the media is established. Big Hit already claimed that the “scandals” created by jTBC’s irresponsible coverage already damaged Suga’s reputation and would have long-term harm to his music career, and therefore, the potential financial losses incurred to the artist himself and his company are immensurable.
Good lessons for SK media and the public to learn about fair treatment of their celebrities. Drunkenness shouldn’t be encouraged. But public bashing and cancellation are overkill. This kind of culture should be discouraged too.
Wish Big Hit/Hype a success in the lawsuit against jTBC. Good job Big Hit!
If late LSK had had a good agency behind him, perhaps he wouldn’t have needed to kill himself.