Im Seong-geun caught drunk driving four times... Drove drunk without a license while on suspended sentence

[The Financial News] Chef Im Seong-geun, who drew attention with his appearance on the Netflix variety show "Culinary Class Wars Season 2," was found to have been punished four times in the past for drunk driving. On a recent broadcast, Im admitted to three drunk driving incidents, but court records show he was actually caught more times than that.
According to a report by The Dong-A Ilbo on the 21st, Im was fined 5 million won on September 21, 1999, on a drunk driving charge. The judgment states that at around 8:25 p.m. on August 15 that year, he was caught driving about 3 kilometers from Bupyeong District, Incheon to a nearby area in Seo District with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.153%, a level of severe intoxication. At the time, Im had no driver’s license and was riding a motorcycle owned by his spouse, and he was detained for 37 days in connection with the case.
It was confirmed that Im committed this offense while he was already under a suspended sentence. Earlier, on March 25, 1998, he had been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and fined 300,000 won for violating the Road Traffic Act. Im appealed the ruling, but his appeal was dismissed in April 2000.
Earlier, on the 18th, Im said on his YouTube channel, "Because I liked drinking, I made mistakes," revealing that he had three prior drunk driving offenses. He explained, "About 10 years ago, I was caught after I started the engine while drunk and fell asleep in the car, and the most recent case was about five to six years ago." In reality, however, he was fined 2 million won and 3 million won in 2009 and 2017, respectively, and in 2020 he was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, after driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.14% in Garibong-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul. Regarding this, Im stated, "Even though many years have passed, it is something I must take responsibility for."


hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter