Avoiding reporters, heading to underground parking
Police block reporters at attendance
Police investigation ends around 5 PM
Trot singer Kim Ho-jung, who is accused of drunk driving and hit-and-run, has not left the police station even though the police investigation has ended.
According to the police on the 21st, the investigation of Kim was already finished around 5 p.m. that day, but as of 10 p.m., he had not come out. It is reported that the delay is due to disagreements over whether to set up a photo line. It is said that Kim is staying inside because he feels burdened by the press.
On that day, around 2 p.m., Kim entered the building through the underground parking lot to avoid the press waiting in front of the photo line at Gangnam Police Station. During this process, a scuffle occurred as the police blocked reporters. Ultimately, it seems difficult to avoid criticism that the police accommodated Kim’s convenience.
Kim is accused of causing an accident by colliding with a taxi on the opposite side of the road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around 11:40 p.m. on the 9th, and fleeing the scene (charges include hit-and-run causing injury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and failure to take measures after an accident). Kim appeared at the police station at 4:30 p.m. the next day, 17 hours later. During this process, it was revealed that Kim’s manager wore Kim’s clothes to give false testimony to the police, and the head of the agency removed the memory card from Kim’s vehicle’s black box, indicating an organized attempt to conceal the crime.
On the 17th, the police received urine test results from the National Forensic Service (NFS) indicating that Kim was judged to have consumed alcohol before the accident. The NFS replied, “Considering that about 20 hours passed from the accident to urine collection, alcohol metabolites (byproducts produced during the body’s process of metabolizing alcohol) exceeding the standard for judging drinking were detected, so it is judged that there was alcohol consumption before the accident.”
Additionally, CCTV footage showing Kim leaving a nightlife establishment and calling a designated driver to go home before the accident was released, and the police reportedly secured a recorded file in which Kim directly asked his manager, “I had an accident while drunk driving. Please appear on my behalf.”
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