On Wednesday, August 7, news broke about SUGA's DUI incident involving an electric scooter. BigHit Music released two statements. The first stated that the case was closed, while the second clarified that some procedures and investigations were still ongoing. The incident happened when SUGA was riding an electric scooter home after a night of drinking.
SUGA didn't harm any person or property but fell off his electric scooter in front of his house. A nearby police officer made him take a breath test, which showed he was drunk, leading to his license being revoked and a fine.
After the news spread, SUGA apologized on Weverse. Fans felt the issue was resolved and his apology was sufficient. However, they were confused and felt BigHit Music's additional statement was unnecessary and didn't protect SUGA properly.
Here's how fans reacted to the statement:
"Enough is enough it's not even a big issue free yoongi"- commented one fan.
"Disappointed? Bcs he made a mistake like countless other ppl. I’m just glad no one got hurt and he’s ok" - said a fan on X.
"I'll admit I don't know Korean culture regarding this but I feel like this is becoming a bigger deal than it needs to" - said another netizen.
"From my pov he apologised and accepted the fine. Unless people want him to magically go back in time and change the event he can't do much more." - added another netizen.
More fans expressed that the issue was being blown out of proportion due to BigHit Music's statement.
"I don't see what the big damn deal is. I mean... He's old enough to drink. While he should not have been operating any kind of moving 'vehicle', the man is human." - said a fan on X.
"Idk why they’re making all this drama when he already apologized for it and it’s also not that deep" - added another netizen.
"I just feel like this made the situation worse. There’s just no point explaining." - said another fan on X.
"This company want to learn how to protect the artist first" - said an X user.
BigHit Music issues statement regarding BTS SUGA's recent DUI incident
As SUGA's DUI incident landed on the internet, the idol soon responded with an apology statement. While many people thought that the issue was settled after the idol's response, BigHit Entertainment's statement added more doubts to people's discussions.
They began by expressing that they were apologetic about the incident and to those they disappointed. Then, they stated the following under the subtitle, "Regarding the use of the word “kickboard”":
"The company used the term “electric kickboard” as we judged the vehicle in use as a kickboard that had a seat attached to it. In the process of checking, we realized that the categorization for the vehicle differed according to its abilities and specifications, as well as the fact that the spectrum of repercussions for any accident would differ as such."
The statement continued,
"We had no intentions of downplaying the incident because of what has been said to a certain extent. However, conclusively, we apologize for having hurriedly put out a statement without carefully examining things. From now on, we plan on diligently taking responsibility according to the vehicle type as determined by the investigative officers."
They also added another subtitle called "Regarding the fine and the revoking of his license". Under the same, they stated that SUGA immediately went home after the breathalyzer test and added the following:
"The company and the artist were unable to register the fact that there are remaining steps to the investigative process, and we wrongly believed that the case had been concluded. As we realize the severity of the case, we are sorry for having wrongly communicated information due to mistakes in internal communication."
Following the new statement, fans are confused regarding what further investigation might be left to complete regarding the SUGA's DUI incident.