[SPOTV News reporter Kim Hyun-rok] Actor Lee Jae-ryong, 62, arrived at a police station to face allegations of driving under the influence and failing to stop after an accident. He showed up earlier than scheduled to avoid reporters and was taken in for questioning.
Seoul’s Gangnam Police Department summoned Lee as a suspect around 2 p.m. on the 10th under the Road Traffic Act on charges of DUI and leaving the scene. Investigators are probing how the crash occurred and why he fled.
Lee had originally been slated for questioning around 3 p.m., but he arrived about an hour early to evade the press.
Reportedly having admitted to drunk driving, officials say they will press him on whether he attempted the so‑called "sultagi" tactic — fleeing the scene and then drinking more to alter breath-test readings.
On the night of the 6th, at about 11 p.m., Lee was driving near Cheongdam Station on Subway Line 7 when his car hit the center divider and he fled the scene. Police arrested him roughly three hours later at an acquaintance’s home.
Authorities say his blood-alcohol level at arrest was high enough to trigger a license suspension. He initially denied DUI in his first interview but reversed his position the next day, on the 7th, admitting, "I drank four glasses of soju and drove, and I thought I only lightly grazed the center divider."
He has denied the allegation that he drank to evade detection, saying he was on his way to a scheduled appointment.
This is the third drinking-related controversy involving Lee, who is married to actress Yoo Ho-jeong. In 2003 he caused a drunk-driving crash in Gangnam, refused a breath test and had his license revoked. In 2019 he was involved in an incident in which he damaged a bowling alley sign in Gangnam while intoxicated; prosecutors later deferred indictment on the property-damage charge.
