FT Island's Choi Min Hwan maintains that he has not engaged in soliciting prostitution, despite admitting to police that he regularly frequents adult venues.
The idol confessed to his regular attendance at adult entertainment establishments in a police report obtained by Korean media outlet Sports Kyeonghyang on December 20.
Read more: FT Island's Choi Min Hwan Disproves Soliciting Prostitution Allegation: 'I Don't Need Condoms'
Hwan, who was questioned on July 9, 2022, denied the allegations of soliciting prostitution after he was found contacting an adult entertainment establishment broker and asking for a reservation.
"It's true that I frequently visited adult entertainment establishments through the broker 'A,' but I never solicited prostitution," Hwan reportedly said to police.
"I don't even remember if I ended up going to an establishment that night."
"A," an employee at the adult establishment, testified to the police that, "The conversation with Choi Minhwan that day was for a reservation at an adult entertainment establishment, not a prostitution business."
The police, on the premise of insufficient evidence based on the recording of Hwan and "A" alone, concluded Hwan's case.
The idol came into investigation when his ex-wife, singer Yulhee, accused Hwan of soliciting prostitution and sexually assaulting her in a video on her personal YouTube channel. In the video, Yulhee played snippets of a recording to sustain her case. She revealed that the idol's frequent visits to adult entertainment venues were the reason for their divorce.
Yulhee accused Hwan of inappropriately touching her in front of her in-laws.
The singer has since pivoted on her stance, refusing to attend a police interrogation and declining to submit an original recording as evidence, prompting police to end their investigation due to insufficient evidence.
"I do not wish for this case to proceed with an investigation or punishment, for the sake of the children," she testified.
South Korea's 2004 "Prostitution Punishment Act" criminalizes the buying and selling of sex, dubbing prostitution punishable by jail time or fines for both the prostitute and the client.
On December 18th, Hwan took to fan platform Weverse to re-affirm that he had not solicited sex services.
"I have never engaged in prostitution as reported by the media. I was cleared of charges due to insufficient evidence. How do you prove something you didn't do?" he said.
"That's why I had nothing more to say, and it's been incredibly frustrating."
