K-Pop Idols Who Went From Serving On Stage To Serving Prison Sentences

K-Pop idols sometimes end up on a completely different path than they started. Usually, this is a career change, meaning they focus on acting or other entertainment.

However, sometimes, idols turn to crime and, as the saying goes, end up doing the time. Here are six idols who went from serving on stage to serving prison sentences.

1. Dahee

During her time as a member of GLAM, Dahee was found guilty and sentenced to prison for blackmailing actor Lee Byung Hun.

The former idol now makes six figures working as a BJ (broadcast jockey)!

Former member of EXO, Kris Wu, was first detained in 2021 on accusations of rape, sexual assault, grooming, and seeking out underage girls under false pretenses in a statement made by influencer Du Meizu. In 2022, he was sentenced to eleven years and six months for rape and an additional one year and ten months for group licentiousness.

The former idol has since appealed his case, which was denied.

3. Cha Joo Hyuk (Kangho)

Ex-member of Coed School, a group with its own eventful history, and SPEED, Cha Joo Hyuk (Kangho) first departed from the group amid sexual assault rumors. After a short acting career, the former idol was sentenced to a year and six months in prison for smoking/taking marijuana, ketamine, and ecstasy thirteen times in Korea and the Netherlands, smuggling ketamine, and introducing his acquaintance to a marijuana seller.

After getting out of prison, he was arrested just eleven days after for testing positive for drugs and was also charged with hitting three pedestrians while drunk driving in 2016.

4. Jung Joon Young

As the “ring leader” of the illegal sex video chat part of the Burning Sun Scandal, Jung Joon Young was found guilty of gang sexual assault and for taking and sharing illegally taken sex videos.

He is serving his five-year sentence and will be released in late 2025.

5. Choi Jonghoon

Cho Jonghoon was a member of FTISLAND until his involvement with Jung Joon Young came to light. He was initially sentenced to five years for participating in two different gang rapes, though his sentence was reduced to two years and six months after being able to come to a settlement with his victims.

He is currently out of jail and has attempted to begin his career again in Japan.

6. Seungri

ex-BIGBANG‘s Seungri was an active participant in Jung Joon Young’s chat rooms, where illegal sex videos were shared and where the participants would “rate” the women they had sex with. He was only investigated for his participation in the chat room and reportedly did not share more than one photo he found online.

Ultimately, his Burning Sun charges included prostitution, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, violating food safety laws, habitual gambling, and violating the foreign exchange law.