Taeil: K-pop idol and former NCT 127 member jailed for rape of foreign woman
Former NCT 127 member Taeil has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for rape.
The 31-year-old was taken into custody immediately after the ruling was handed down on Wednesday (July 10) by the 26th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court.
Taeil, who had been on trial without detention, was arrested in court after the first sentencing hearing. The court said: “Since a prison sentence is being imposed, we judge there is a risk of flight and have issued an arrest warrant.”
The charges follow an incident in 2024 involving Taeil and two acquaintances, who met a foreign woman at a bar in Itaewon, Seoul. According to court findings, the group took the intoxicated woman to a private residence in Bangbae-dong, where they committed non-consensual acts while she was unconscious. Taeil admitted to the charges during trial proceedings.
Despite his apology, a settlement with the victim, and a plea for leniency, the court maintained that the severity of the crime warranted a custodial sentence. “The crime was too serious to avoid jail time,” the court concluded. Prosecutors had originally sought a seven-year sentence, citing the premeditated nature of the assault and efforts by the defendants to conceal it.
In addition to the prison term, Taeil and the two co-defendants were ordered to complete a 40-hour sexual violence treatment programme, have their personal information publicly disclosed, and were banned from working in child- and youth-related institutions for five years.
SM Entertainment terminated Taeil’s exclusive contract in October 2024 following the revelation of the charges, stating that “trust with the artist could no longer be maintained.”