Suga apologizes for DUI in handwritten letter

Suga of boy band BTS posted a handwritten letter of apology on Sunday evening, two days after his three-hour interrogation at the police station on Friday for drunk-driving an e-scooter earlier this month.

Suga of BTS, left, and his handwritten letter of apology uploaded on Weverse on Aug. 25 [YONHAP, SCREEN CAPTURE]

Suga of boy band BTS posted a handwritten letter of apology on Sunday evening, two days after his three-hour interrogation at the police station on Friday for drunk-driving an e-scooter earlier this month.

"I wish to apologize to everyone with a shameful heart," the BTS member wrote in a letter uploaded to fan community service Weverse.

"I deeply apologize for disappointing and hurting fans and everyone who has loved me due to my wrongdoing. I have done something so wrong after forgetting that I should be paying back all the love I have received with the right actions."

In the letter, which came 18 days after his first official apology on Aug. 7, Suga admitted to drunk-driving an e-scooter on the pedestrian zone and "confusing everyone with the first apology," where he referred to the scooter as a "kick board," which refer to the scooters without seats in Korea.

The two are classified differently by the law and therefore drunk-drivers are given out different sentences accordingly. Suga and his agency came under fire for calling the scooter a kick board in the first apology and allegedly trying to minimize damage.

Suga is asked questions by reporters after arriving at the Yongsan Police Station to be questioned over this alleged DUI case on Aug. 23 in central Seoul. [NEWS1]

"Everything is my fault," Suga continued in Sunday's letter. "I am putting everyone through trouble with my carelessness. I will always try not to do anything wrong and reflect on my actions in the future.

"I have put a major scratch in the precious memories that the members [of BTS] and fans have made together, and also damaged the name of BTS. I cannot fully express how regretful and agonizing I feel to have harmed the members and the team. I am so sorry to put the members, who have always trusted me, through all this."

Suga repeatedly apologized and concluded the letter by saying, "I will accept with humility all the criticism and punishment that will come my way."

The letter came two days after the 31-year-old BTS member, whose real name is Min Yoon-gi, was questioned at the Yongsan Police Station in central Seoul on Friday over an alleged DUI case that took place on Aug. 6.

A truck carrying LED screens on Aug. 18 in front of HYBE's headquarters in central Seoul displays messages demanding Suga to leave his boy band BTS after his alleged drunk-driving case on Aug. 6. [NEWS1]

A pedestrian walks by flower wreaths displaying messages demanding BTS's Suga to leave the band in front of HYBE's headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Aug. 18. [NEWS1]

He admitted to the charges during the interrogation, during which he was asked why he drove the scooter under the influence, how much he drank, who he was accompanied by while drinking, whether he had insurance and more, according to the police.

The singer was investigated for the first time on Aug. 6 for allegedly driving an electric scooter under the influence of alcohol in Yongsan District, central Seoul, the same day.

Suga’s blood alcohol level when he was caught driving under the influence was 0.227 percent, high enough to qualify for a revocation of his driver’s license — a punishment imposed from a threshold of 0.08 percent.

The singer is currently fulfilling his mandatory military service as a social service agent, a role that typically involves a regular daily work schedule, allowing him to return home after work hours.

The BTS member is scheduled to complete his service in June next year. The Military Manpower Administration said it will not penalize Suga because the incident did not take place while he was on duty.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]