Former BIGBANG member Seungri, whose legal name is Lee Seung-hyun, is reported to be preparing to become a father and to marry a girlfriend in her 20s, according to Korean outlets including 한국경제. The reports say the woman is pregnant and that a birth is expected in January, with wedding plans to follow. Several Korean media outlets, among them 머니투데이 and 스포츠조선, carried the same account, and 스포츠조선 reported that a newlywed home is being prepared in Gangnam.
The news has drawn attention because it surfaces while Seungri is facing a criminal complaint. According to reporting cited by 한국경제, he has been accused of special assault, and Seoul's Gangnam Police Station is said to have received the complaint on the 25th of last month. The complainant has reportedly not yet been interviewed by investigators.
Seungri has denied the allegation. His lawyer, Yoon Jae-bin of the law firm Surim, issued a statement on the 23rd saying his client never swung or struck anyone with a soju bottle, Yonhap-related coverage of the statement indicates. The statement addressed an incident dated August 8 involving an acquaintance.
Separately, a YouTube channel called Jirit Jirit aired a video on the 20th in which a reporter, Oh Hyuk-jin, alleged that Seungri had sought to set up a so-called second Burning Sun operation based in Cambodia. That claim has not been independently verified in the material reviewed here.
Seungri left BIGBANG and has been described in Korean coverage as having been pushed out of the entertainment industry.
What to watch next: whether police schedule the complainant's interview and how Seungri's legal team responds to the Cambodia allegation.
