[Photograph by Yoo Dae-gil ]
SEOUL -- Yoo Soo-young, a member of S.E.S which was active in the 1990s as South Korea's first-generation K-pop girl band, was indicted for habitual gambling abroad. She would stand trial without being detained.
Prosecutors said Friday that the singer, known professionally as Shoo, was accused of gambling in Macau and other casinos abroad from August 2016 to May this year. Her total betting money was estimated at 790 million won ($702,200).
An investigation began in August on complaints from private lenders that Yoo did not pay a combined debt of 600 million won after losing borrowed money at a foreigner-only casino at a Seoul hotel in June. The case triggered great public attention as it was the first gambling case involving a K-pop girl band member who once enjoyed high popularity.
Prosecutors dropped fraud charges against her. Instead, a money lender was indicted for aiding gambling as he knew his money would be used for gambling. Yoo allegedly visited the casino in Seoul using her foreign nationality. She was born in Yokohama, Japan. Her father is Korean and her mother is Japanese.
Yoo has insisted that she was not a habitual gambler and lost money because she did not know the rules of gambling well. South Korea has about 20 casinos with only one open to locals. Gambling is basically illegal in South Korea.
Yoo, who debuted in 1997 and got married after her group disbanded in 2003, said she decided to come clean because the name of Eugene, another S.E.S. member, became a top real-time online trending keyword Friday due to wrong information, although she was not involved in the case.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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