G-Dragon

By Kim Tae-jong

K-pop idol G-Dragon, the leader of popular boy band Big Bang, has avoided being indicted for illegally smoking marijuana. The prosecution said Wednesday that it has decided to “suspend indictment” as he smoked only a tiny amount.

The singer, whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong, has been investigated after his hair tested positive for the contraband substance in July.

During a recent interrogation, he admitted to having smoked marijuana at a club in Japan in May while on his band’s concert tour, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

"I went to a club in Japan where a Japanese stranger gave me a cigarette. Its smell was different from usual cigarettes, but I smoked a little bit of it," he was quoted as saying during the interrogation by the prosecution.

Big Bang held eight concerts in Osaka, Chiba and Nagoya in Japan from May 10 to 19.

The prosecution said they decided not to indict him after taking into consideration various factors that he inhaled just a small amount, confessed to the crime and sincerely expressed his remorse.

The suspension of indictment recognizes the criminal charges but takes into consideration other factors such as age, criminal motive and remorse, and thus it does not lead to a court trial but serves as a “warning.”

Previously, he also received the suspension of indictment in December, 2009, as he staged a sexually-suggestive lewd performance with a female dancer during his first solo concert with an audience of 50,000 fans, mostly teenagers.