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On Friday, April 7, VIXX’s Ravi and his agency Jellyfish Entertainment officially announced that the member has withdrawn from the group. The former also issued an unconditional apology for faking his medical records to evade his mandatory military service.
For those unversed, on April 11, the first trial of the military corruption case, which includes VIXX’s Ravi, labelmate Nafla, who is also guilty of military corruption and corrupt CEO “A” of management, GROOVL1N, were prosecuted on charges of violating the Military Service Act of South Korea.
During the trial, VIXX’s Ravi admitted to military-related corruption, citing that due to COVID-19, the agency was facing a financial crunch and he was the only artist who was bringing revenue to the company, and hence, the desperate time called for desperate measures.
However, the idol regrets the actions and is truly sorry for the crime he has committed, stating:
"At the time, I was the only artist bringing in revenue (for the label), and we were in danger of having to pay large fees for violating contracts due to COVID-19. I apologize to those faithfully serving the military and to epilepsy patients and their families who were hurt by me."
The date of the sentencing trial has not yet been set.
VIXX’s Ravi releases a statement of apology via his personal Instagram account
Additionally, VIXX’s Ravi released an apology statement via his personal Instagram account, admitting to military-related corruption and apologizing to his fans for letting them down.
He explained his side of the story and shared that he avoided enlisting in the military for the longest time due to work-related reasons. When after a point, he couldn’t evade mandatory military duty, he decided to use deceitful means to avoid enlisting in the military.
He explained that, due to COVID-19, his agency GROOVL1N, was facing a financial crunch and that he was the only member who was bringing revenue to the company. Hence, with the burden of contract cancelation charges, the Shangri-la rapper took the desperate measures of hiring a military broker to fake medical records and avoid active enlistment.
Instead, the Block Party hitmaker then voluntarily registered for public service.
VIXX’s Ravi sincerely apologized to epilepsy patients for undermining the pain and trauma they go through and to all the K-pop idols who are diligently fulfilling their mandatory military service at the moment.
He confirmed leaving VIXX and apologized to his bandmates for bringing a dent to the group’s reputation and causing them unnecessary harm. He also apologized to the group’s fans for letting them down and indulging in criminal behavior.
In his concluding lines, VIXX’s Ravi shared that he will use this incident to reflect upon himself and try and become a better person and a more responsible citizen. Fans can read the complete statement on VIXX’s Ravi personal Instagram handle, @ravithecrackkidz.
Notably, this was VIXX’s Ravi's first official statement since the controversy broke out earlier this year. For those unversed, in January 2023, a group of military brokers were arrested for helping able-bodied Korean men evade active military duty using unlawful methods and tactics.
Military brokers designated their clients to a neurologist at a large hospital in Seoul for faking epilepsy medical records, to be used to either evade active military duty or receive a lesser military grade.
One of the brokers, however, busted the racket by confessing that their services were used by a famous idol-rapper who turned out to be VIXX’s Ravi. The military broker taught the Voodoo Doll singer everything he needs to do to avoid active military duty, which included faking medical records and play-acting like an epilepsy patient in front of the doctor.
The prosecution has demanded a two-year jail term for VIXX’s Ravi
A trial was held on April11 for the eight individuals accused of military corruption including - VIXX member Ravi, CO-CEO “A” and rapper Nafla, who too faked his medical records to prevent active military duty.
They have been prosecuted for violating South Korea’s Military Service Act and the prosecution has demanded that the Eternity rapper and the co-CEO should be given a two-year prison term and Nafla should be punished with a two-and-a-half year jail term (two years and six months).
The date of the sentencing trial has not been set yet and it is left to be seen what will be the VIXX’s member’s ultimate punishment.
