Celebrities May 8, 2025 Thursday 17:22 Sani
On the 8th, according to the South Korean police, former WINNER member Nam Tae Hyun was involved in a drunk driving accident on April 27 in the early morning, and the Seoul Yongsan Police Station has filed an investigation into the suspected drunk driving.
At around 4:10 am that day, Nam Tae Hyun was driving under the influence near the Hangang River in Seoul, when he attempted to overtake another vehicle and collided with the central divider. Fortunately, there were no casualties. At the time of the incident, Nam Tae Hyun’s blood alcohol level was above 0.08%, enough to have his driver’s license revoked.
Prior to this, Nam Tae Hyun was involved in a drug scandal in 2022, when it was revealed by “Heart Signal 3” contestant Xu Min that he had purchased 0.5g of a virus through Telegram and mixed it with alcohol for consumption. He was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspended sentence in January last year. Additionally, Nam was also involved in a drunk driving incident during a drug investigation in March 2023, for which he was fined 6 million Korean won by the court.
As the drunk driving incident occurred during his suspended sentence, the police applied for an arrest warrant on the 2nd of this month. However, after a substantive review of the necessity of arrest of the suspect before the arrest on the 7th, the court rejected the arrest request, stating that there was “no evidence of data loss.”
Nam Tae Hyun had originally planned to participate in a music festival at the Hongdae Small Theater on the 6th of this month and release a new album on the 9th, but he suddenly canceled his performances on the 4th due to the drunk driving incident. It is reported that he canceled the performances due to the overwhelming criticism from society about his comeback, feeling burdened. In March this year, Nam Tae Hyun posted on SNS, “Every day is spent in sincere reflection and repentance. I hope to bring not controversy, but comforting music to those who await me.” The post has since been deleted.
In addition, Nam Tae Hyun debuted as a member of the boy group WINNER in 2014, and after leaving the group in 2016, he formed the band South Club and continued his activities as a singer-songwriter. In July 2023, before the drug case verdict, Nam Tae Hyun appeared on the KBS 1TV current affairs program “60 Minutes Investigates,” revealing his life in a drug rehabilitation center. Nam Tae Hyun stated that he had received psychiatric prescriptions during his work in the entertainment industry, taking tranquilizers, diet pills, and other medications. Due to the impact of the pandemic and subsequent unemployment, his depression worsened, eventually leading to addiction. In October of the same year, Nam Tae Hyun attended a national health and welfare committee of the National Assembly as a reference person, expressing his views on the drug rehabilitation process, which garnered public attention.
Due to the controversies surrounding drunk driving and drug use, Nam Tae Hyun is currently on hiatus.