Police refute trot singer's human rights violation claim

Kim Ho-joong was treated the same as others in having to exit through station's main entrance: Seoul police chief

Singer Kim Ho-Joong leaves the Seoul Central District Court building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, after attending a court hearing to determine whether to issue a warrant for his arrest on May 31. (Yonhap)

Seoul's police chief said at a press conference Monday that there was no human rights violation during the police investigation of Kim Ho-joong, a trot singer who was arrested for an alleged DUI hit-and-run last month, saying that he had been treated the same as the other suspects and people involved in the case. The embattled trot singer has said that his human rights were violated during the police investigation because officers had forced him to exit the police station through its main entrance, where reporters were waiting with questions, although he had been concerned about facing the media at that time.

“I cannot agree with Kim’s claim at all," Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho said in a press briefing Monday.

“All persons involved in the case, including the suspects, should enter through the main entrance of the police station and exit through the main entrance,” he said.

Cho, however, also said that Seoul's Gangnam Police Station had made a "mistake" by letting Kim enter through an underground parking lot for his third interrogation on May 21. After the interrogation, the police corrected their mistake by telling Kim to leave through the main entrance, according to him.

Kim said through his lawyer that he was considering filing a complaint against the police with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea for being forced to leave through the station's main entrance, where he had to do a perp walk in front of members of the press, who were waiting for him.

The lawyer argues Kim should have been able to use the station's underground parking lot exit to return home privately, citing information regulations that the police should not disclose the faces of those involved in an investigation or leak investigation reports.

After his interrogation on the 21st, Kim had requested that the police use the underground parking lot to exit the station as he had entered, but the police refused. After a six-hour standoff, Kim eventually left through the main entrance, where he was questioned by reporters.

The commissioner also said in the press conference that the police concluded he had been driving under the influence at the license suspension level. Kim had denied that he was driving under the influence at the time of the accident. He turned himself in the day after the accident but claimed that he had not been driving under the influence of alcohol.

“To verify that he was intoxicated that night, police estimated his blood alcohol concentration at the time by using the Widmark formula,” Cho said. "His blood alcohol concentration at the time is believed to have been at the license suspension level of 0.03 percent or more and less than 0.08 percent.”

Kim rose to stardom after finishing fourth in the finals of TV Chosun's hit audition show, “Mr. Trot,” in 2020. Once an aspiring opera singer, Kim earned the nickname, “Tvarotti,” which combines the word “trot” with the name of Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, after his dramatic rise to stardom as a trot singer.

Kim was referred to the prosecution Friday for further investigation and possible indictment.

By Lee Jaeeun(jenn@heraldcorp.com)