SEOUL– A Seoul court on Friday sentenced rapper Chang Yong-jun, also known as NO:EL, to one year in prison for refusing a police breathalyzer test and assaulting an officer after being involved in a traffic accident last year.
The Seoul Central District Court said the nature of Chang’s offense in September of last year was grave, as it occurred during the suspended sentence period of a separate driving-under-the-influence conviction in 2020.
Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term for Chang. The court said it took into consideration that the accused had partly admitted to his crime and repented for his actions.
The incident took place on the night of Sept. 18 when the 22-year-old rapper caused a fender bender while driving his Mercedes in southern Seoul. His driver’s license was revoked at the time. Police sent to the scene asked Chang to take a breathalyzer test, but he refused and head-butted an officer, according to investigators.
Chang was previously sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for two years, in 2020 for causing a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol the previous year.
NO:EL is the son of Chang Je-won, a three-term lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s chief of staff.
Source: Yonhap News Agency