Trot singer Kim Ho-jung has appealed to the Supreme Court after being sentenced to actual imprisonment for drunk driving and hit-and-run. Kim Ho-jung was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for charges including dangerous driving causing injury and fleeing the scene under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, as well as failure to take action after an accident under the Road Traffic Act. The appellate court upheld the initial ruling of 2 years and 6 months in prison. Kim Ho-jung’s side argued that he had not consumed enough alcohol to make normal driving impossible at the time of the accident, but this defense was not accepted. The appellate court pointed out that “the amount of alcohol consumed by the defendant on the day of the incident seems significant” and that “his accident and decision-making abilities were significantly impaired due to alcohol, leading to the accident.” Kim Ho-jung was accused of colliding with a taxi while driving under the influence in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on May 9 last year, and evidence emerged that he attempted to conceal multiple offenses, including coercing a staff member of his agency to make false statements and refusing to provide the passcodes for three mobile phones seized by the police. The CEO and head of the agency, who were also sentenced to actual imprisonment along with Kim Ho-jung, have decided not to appeal. The CEO was sentenced to 2 years in prison, the head of the agency to 1 year and 6 months in prison, and the individual who made false statements, Mr. Jang, was given a suspended sentence of 1 year with 2 years of probation. Let’s analyze the impact and future outlook of this incident on the K-POP and Hallyu market.