Home > Entertainment > K-pop

Ex-member of boy band Winner to stand trial for DUI

Published: 01 Dec. 2025, 13:10

Singer Nam Tae-hyun, a former member of the boy band Winner, speaks during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Oct. 12, 2023. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Singer Nam Tae-hyun, a former member of the boy band Winner, who previously caused controversy over illegal drug use, is set to stand trial on a drunk driving charge.

The Seoul Western District Court has scheduled the first hearing for Nam’s drunk driving case on Dec. 11, according to the legal community on Monday. He is charged with violating the Road Traffic Act.

Nam is accused of driving under the influence and causing an accident near Dongjak Bridge on the Gangbyeonbuk-ro expressway in the direction toward Goyang, Gyeonggi, at around 4:10 a.m. on April 27.

He reportedly crashed into a median strip while attempting to overtake a car ahead. No one was injured in the accident. A police investigation found that his blood alcohol level was high enough to warrant license revocation — 0.08 or higher.

Before this incident, Nam had been sentenced in January last year to one year in prison for violating the Narcotics Control Act. The sentence was suspended for two years.

On May 2 this year, police requested an arrest warrant for Nam, noting that he had driven drunk while on probation. The court dismissed the request, citing insufficient grounds for detention during a pretrial detention hearing.

In March 2023, Nam was also fined 6 million won ($4,080) in a summary judgment for a drunk driving accident that occurred during a separate drug investigation.

Nam debuted as a member of Winner in 2013. He left the group in 2016 and founded his own music label The South in 2017.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]