Another Korean celebrity in online gambling trouble

The current crackdown on internet gambling by the Korean police has claimed another casualty, with K-pop Shinwa band member Andy Lee named alongside other South Korean celebrities accused of gambling online.

The publication Korea Star Daily reports that Lee has cancelled all professional engagements and has left the group’s weekly television program “Shinhwa Broadcast.”

“I will be suspending all of my activities and reflecting on my actions,” the pop star told the newspaper.

According to eNEWS, South Korean prosecutors claim that Lee, whose real name is Lee Sun Ho, spent over $9,000 on an illegal online service that placed bets on soccer matches overseas.

That pales to insignificance when compared to the amounts allegedly spent by some of the other celebrities caught up in the busts like Tony An, Lee Su Guen and Tak Jae Hoon who each gambled over $940,000 according to enforcement investigators.

Rapper Boom (real name Lee Min Ho) and actor Yang Se Hyung are also charged with spending roughly $9,000 each in the illegal soccer gambling ring.

The Korean entertainment business takes legal transgressions by stars seriously, apologising abjectly, suspending stars and even going to the extent of editing those involved out of already recorded programs.

For example, the Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (jTBC), a network that produces “Shinhwa Broadcast,” says that pre-recorded episodes of the show will be aired, but with the unfortunate Any Lee edited out wherever possible.

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