Actor Lee Jae-ryong, who caused a crash while driving after drinking in Seoul's Gangnam, was found to have returned to the restaurant right after the crash and had more alcohol. Police determined Lee attempted so-called "sultagi," or post-crash drinking, to blur the degree of intoxication at the time of the crash.
According to the indictment obtained by MBC on the 3rd, Lee, at about 11:03 p.m. on Mar. 6, drove a passenger car after drinking and, while heading from Cheongdam Station toward Samseong Jungang Station in Gangnam District, Seoul, struck the median strip.
The crash damaged the median strip, incurring about 3 million won in repair costs, but Lee was found to have left the scene without taking any particular measures.
About 20 minutes after the crash, at around 11:23 p.m., Lee went to a restaurant in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul. He was found to have additionally drunk Hwayo soju for about 50 minutes afterward.
About two hours later, Lee was arrested at an acquaintance's home and initially denied being intoxicated at the time of driving. However, during a later police interview, he changed his account, saying he "drank four shots of soju and drove, and thought I had lightly grazed the median strip," according to reports.
Police believed Lee, who drank before the crash and again immediately after, used the so-called "sultagi" method to make it difficult to measure his blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash.
However, prosecutors decided it would be difficult to clearly prove Lee's blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash and declined to indict him on drunk driving charges.
Lee also has a prior record for drunk driving. In 2003, after causing an alcohol-related traffic crash, he refused a police breath test and had his driver's license revoked.