Rapper NO:EL gets 1-year prison term for refusing breathalyzer test, assaulting police officer

A Seoul court sentenced rapper Chang Yong-jun, also known as NO:EL, to one year in prison Friday for refusing to take a breathalyzer test and assaulting a police officer after being involved in a traffic accident last year.

The Seoul Central District Court said the nature of Chang's offense in September was grave, as it occurred while his driving license was suspended due to a separate driving-under-the-influence conviction in 2020.

Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term for Chang, but the court said it took into consideration that the accused had partly admitted to his crime and repented his actions.

The incident took place on the night of Sept. 18 when the 22-year-old rapper caused a fender bender while driving his Mercedes in southern Seoul. Police sent to the scene asked Chang to submit to a breathalyzer test, but he refused and head-butted an officer, according to prosecutors.

Chang was previously sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison, suspended for two years, in 2020 for causing a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol the previous year.

NO:EL is the son of Chang Je-won, a three-term lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's chief of staff. (Yonhap)