'Iru Convicted of Drunk Driving and Driver Substitution, Suspended Sentence Upheld on Appeal'

Singer and actor Iru (41, real name Jo Seong-hyun), who was indicted on charges including drunk driving and driver swapping, was sentenced to a suspended prison term again in the appellate trial.

Singer Lee Roo (real name Jo Seong-hyun) is attending the first appeal trial held on the 7th at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 26th, the 2-2 Criminal Appeals Division of the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the prosecution's appeal against Jo, who was tried for aiding and abetting a criminal, aiding and abetting drunk driving, and drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act, and upheld the first trial's sentence. Previously, Jo was sentenced to six months in prison with a one-year suspension and fined 100,000 won in the first trial.

The court stated, "Considering that he has shown remorse as stated in the first trial and has no prior criminal record, it is difficult to see the original sentence as too lenient or unfair." Jo left the courtroom after briefly saying "I'm sorry" to the press.

Jo is accused of driving under the influence on September 5, 2022, and then swapping drivers with his passenger, acquaintance A. A falsely testified during police investigation the next day that he was the one driving. The prosecution applied the charge of aiding and abetting a criminal, believing Jo overlooked A's false testimony to avoid punishment.

Additionally, Jo is accused of aiding and abetting drunk driving by handing over the car keys to his intoxicated acquaintance B and allowing him to park on December 19 of the same year.

He is also charged with driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.075%, which corresponds to a license suspension level, on the same day. At that time, Jo was driving acquaintance C's car on Gangbyeonbuk-ro at speeds exceeding 180 km/h and caused an accident by hitting the guardrail between Hannam Bridge and Dongho Bridge in the direction of Guri on Gangbyeonbuk-ro.

Jo, the son of singer Tae Jin-ah, debuted in 2005 under the name Iru and has also worked as an actor.