SEOUL (Reuters) – Seoul police have asked prosecutors to consider pressing charges against a member of hit South Korean boyband BTS over an October car crash, Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday, citing police officials.
Jung Kook, the group’s main vocalist, was driving in central Seoul in October when he hit a taxi due to an “an error on his part,” manager Big Hit Entertainment said at the time.
The 22-year-old singer admitted violating traffic laws, reached an “amicable settlement” with the victim, and was questioned by police, the company said then.
But after determining that there was “serious negligence involved in the accident,” police advised prosecutors to seek an indictment on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act and related laws, Yonhap reported on Tuesday, without elaborating.
Calls to Big Hit Entertainment’s corporate office were not answered.
Jung Kook, whose full name is Jeon Jung-kook, is one of seven members of BTS, which has spearheaded a wave of Korean pop music and achieved global recognition. It was the first group since the Beatles to have three number one albums in the United States in less than a year.
Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Kim Coghill