Seung-ri of boy band Big Bang was questioned by police on Wednesday night on suspicion that he supplied sometimes drugged women and prostitutes to potential investors and rich customers at his club.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Seung-ri showed up voluntarily and was grilled on charges of peddling drugs at the Burning Sun club, pimping and bribing police. Police are trying to determine to what extent he was involved in the day-to-day management of the posh club, whether he took drugs himself, and how complicit he was in the other alleged crimes.
Speaking to reporters in front of the police station Seung-ri said, "I submitted to police today a petition seeking a thorough investigation of the charges made against me. I caused a lot of concerns and disappointment to many people. I will cooperate sincerely with the investigation so that all of the suspicions can be resolved."
He also vowed to submit to a drug test.
Earlier this week, an entertainment news website published what it claimed were text messages exchanged by Seung-ri and an executive at his company, Yuri Holdings, identified as Yu, urging another staffer to take good care of an investor from Taiwan.
Seungri writes to the staffer, "It looks like a client came from Taiwan, so make sure and do whatever he wants."
Yu also tells the staffer, "I'm getting some prostitutes ready, so make sure the two men all go to their hotel rooms." The staffer then chimes in to say, "The two men have been sent off" to their hotel rooms. It is unclear whether the investors then made use of the prostitutes' services.
Seung-ri and Yu established Yuri Holdings in March of 2016 to manage the pop idol's restaurant and entertainment businesses.
In December 2015, when the alleged text messages were exchanged, the company was busy soliciting potential investors. The Taiwanese investor apparently attended Yuri Holdings' shareholders meeting five months after the hotel incident.
Seung-ri has been under intense public scrutiny after a nightclub called Burning Sun that he ran was busted for plying female guests with date-rape drugs and dragging them into VIP rooms filled with wealthy clients. He has stepped down from his position as co-CEO of Yuri Holdings, and Burning Sun has closed down.
Seung-ri of boy band Big Bang speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Wendesday.