Singer Kim Ho Joong, who was charged with a hit-and-run, admitted all allegations including visiting a bar and switching drivers. However, he repeatedly denied the allegations of drunk driving–the key issue of this case, stating, “Absolutely not.”
Lee Kwang Deok, his older cousin and the CEO of Kim Ho Joong’s agency, said in an official statement on the morning of the 16th, “(Kim Ho Joong) visited a bar to say hello to my friends who were drinking with me on the 9th,” but insisted that “Kim Ho Joong never had a drink as he was preparing for a concert in Goyang.”
Mr. Lee explained the reason for the accident, “The accident was due to his poor driving skills, and he seemed to have made the wrong judgment as he was in a severe panic disorder at the time.”
Mr. Lee admitted that the attempt to switch drivers was his idea, saying, “As the CEO of the agency, I asked the manager, who is known to have surrendered voluntarily, to forcibly change into Kim Ho Joong’s clothes and handle the situation on his behalf,” and added, “All of this happened because I tried to overprotect Kim Ho Joong as his older cousin and the CEO of his agency.”
Regarding the disappearance of the black box memory card of the vehicle Kim Ho Joong was driving, Lee claimed, “Another manager who arrived at the scene earlier removed the memory card on his own accord.”
Meanwhile, Kim Ho Joong is accused of fleeing from the scene after colliding with a taxi coming from the opposite direction while changing lanes on a road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul around 11:40 PM on the 9th. The police have charged Kim Ho Joong with a violation of the Road Traffic Act (taking no action after the incident), and have applied for a search and seizure warrant to accurately investigate the situation.