Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Shoo speaks to reporters at the Seoul Eastern District Court on Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Dong Sun-hwa, Park Si-soo
Shoo, a dazzling heartthrob in the 1990s as a member of now-disbanded K-pop trio S.E.S, received a suspended jail term Monday for habitual illegal gambling.
Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced Shoo, 37, whose real name is Yoo Soo-young, to six months' jail, suspended for two years. The court also ordered her to perform 80 hours of community service.
Shoo said she "deserved" the punishment and would not appeal.
 |
| Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
She was charged with gambling several times in foreign countries, including in Macao from August 2016 to May last year. She gambled a total of 790 million won ($702,000).
Prosecutors did not press charges regarding fraud accusations brought against Shoo by two people who had gambled with her. They had accused her of not repaying 600 million won they lent to the former singer at a local casino.
"She has been involved in gambling multiple times in the long term and bet a significant amount, exerting a negative influence on the public and teenagers," Judge Yang Chul-han said in the ruling. "However, her punishment will be suspended because she is deeply remorseful about what she did. This was considered in making the ruling."
 |
| Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
After the ruling, Shoo told reporters in an apologetic voice, "I began gambling out of curiosity at first, but it was embarrassing and awful to see how I changed. Thanks to punishment and rebuke, I have a chance to escape from the swamp. I am sorry to my children and the public."
While answering a barrage of questions from reporters, she kept fidgeting her fingers uneasily. She left the court in a black sedan.
Shoo debuted as a member of female trio S.E.S. in 1997. The band rocketed to stardom with its debut song "I'm Your Girl" and remained popular until its disbandment in 2002.
Shoo married basketball player Im Hyo-sung in 2010 and they have three children. She returned to the small screen in the KBS TV reality program "The Return of Superman" in 2014.
