More details have been revealed for T.O.P’s marijuana use case.
The identity of the female companion who smoked marijuana with the BIGBANG member has been revealed. She is former idol trainee Han Seo Hee, who was famed for her appearance on singing variety show “The Birth Of A Great Star” in 2012.
According to allkpop, she was so popular that a fan club was formed before she made her official debut. She was rumoured to be debuting with a girl group last year, but no news has been heard since.
Her former agency stated, “Though Ms. Han was chosen as a trainee, her contract was terminated after one month due to personal reasons. We haven’t been in contact with her in 2 years, and we are in no way involved in this case.”
A police source also said, “It seems that (Han Seo Hee) started using marijuana due to the stress of a continuously postponed debut.”
Dispatch has also revealed more information on the case. According to them, police began clamping down on drug-related cases after a former 2NE1 stylist, Yang, was arrested for cocaine use in 2 separate cases in 2014 and 2016. Coincidentally, the stylist was also a close friend to the BIGBANG members.
After investigating, police found that one of their suspects was an idol trainee – who turned out to be Han Seo Hee.
She was initially arrested in March for marijuana usage, and during questioning, admitted to the crime and brought up T.O.P’s name. However, this wasn’t enough to label T.O.P as a suspect as the authorities needed evidence of a relationship between T.O.P and the trainee. Ultimately, one of Han’s belongings proved that the 2 celebrities indeed knew each other.
This caused police to conduct investigations on the idol rapper, who tested positive on a follicle drug test.
T.O.P was also spotted at a Seoul police station today (Friday, 2nd June) at 12:30pm KST (11:30am Malaysian time). He was scheduled for questioning at 5:30pm but unexpectedly came early. This has inconvenienced Korean media outlets, as T.O.P previously agreed to talk to them before meeting the police.
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The rapper, who is currently on a short vacation from his military enlistment, was slated to continue his service at 6pm today. However, he returned to base much earlier than expected. Ha Man Jin, the bandmaster of the Seoul Metropolitan Police, spoke to the media on behalf of him.
T.O.P will be carrying out his usual duties for the time being and no action has been decided against him yet. Ha continued, “Currently, T.O.P has returned to his station, and is on standby. The deadline to return was originally 6 pm, so he doesn’t currently have any assignments. Whether or not T.O.P will be transferred to another department has yet to be decided.”
Protection will also be offered to the BIGBANG member and he’ll be restricted from leaving base and doing other activities. According to the bandmaster, soldiers will be deemed in need of extra protection if they “show signs of mental distress or are having other problems”. “Until a verdict has been made, T.O.P will be carrying out his duties with the band,” continued Ha.
Koreaboo has also reported that another BIGBANG member has underwent a drug test. They cited Chosun News, who said that the information was leaked from inside the police department.
Fortunately, the member – who wasn’t named – tested negative for the test. He was also tested around the same time as T.O.P.
The test was used to determine marijuana use and various other types of drugs. However, every single drug test performed on the member came back negative, clearing them from the investigation.
UPDATE (5th June, 2:40pm):
According to several news site, T.O.P has been formally indicted for illegal drug use. The star has also confessed to the amount of marijuana he smoked.
Previous reports explained that the rapper smoked marijuana a total of 4 times, twice normally and twice in liquid form. He has denied the liquid marijuana allegations but admits to the regular marijuana use claims.
T.O.P will also be prosecuted without detainment by the police for his drug use. The trainee who was with him, Han Seo Hee, was also summoned and has completed her questioning.
Sources: allkpop, soompi (1) (2), Koreaboo (1) (2) (3).
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