Manager Kim Ho-joong, circumstances surrounding the destruction of key evidence

An official from Kim Ho-jung's side said that the black box memory chip, which was crucial evidence related to the hit-and-run charges of singer Kim Ho-jung (32), was damaged.

On the 16th, an official from Kim Ho-jung's side told Ten Asia, "The manager who arrived at the scene at the time damaged the black box memory chip of Kim Ho-jung's vehicle. We understand that it is damaged and does not currently exist."

Officials say that Manager Kim Ho-joong appears to have damaged the black box memory card, which is the key evidence in this case, and destroyed the evidence.

Assuming what the official said is true, the key evidence in this case is likely to be the surrounding CCTV footage of Kim Ho-jung's actions.

According to the entertainment industry, on this morning, the police searched and seized Kim Ho-joong's home and the office of his agency, Saeng Saeng Entertainment. The purpose of this search and seizure was to secure the black box memory of Kim Ho-joong's vehicle, but as the manager revealed that the memory chip was damaged, securing evidence is expected to become a little more difficult.

If it is revealed through a future police investigation that the manager damaged the black box memory of Kim Ho-joong's car, the manager is unlikely to be able to avoid legal responsibility. In addition, Kim Ho-jung's cousin Lee Gwang-deuk, CEO of Saeng Saeng Entertainment, is also expected to take legal responsibility.

On this day, Lee Gwang-deuk claimed, "Kim Ho-jung never drank and was unable to handle the accident due to severe panic." At the same time, he blamed himself and his manager for the fault of this incident.

Mr. Lee said, "On the 9th, Kim Ho-joong visited an entertainment bar to say hello to the people who were drinking with his relative and agency representative Lee Gwang-deuk. At the time, Kim Ho-joong was about to go to a concert in Goyang, so he never drank." "I returned home first, and after returning home, I was driving my own car for personal reasons, and while I was traveling, I had an accident due to poor driving. I was very panicked at the time of the accident and I think I made a wrong decision," he claimed.

At the same time, "another manager who arrived at the scene first removed the memory card first due to his own judgment, and I, as the representative of the agency, asked the manager who was known to have surrendered to take Kim Ho-joong's clothes and change them to handle the matter on his behalf." “All of this happened because I, as Kim Ho-jung’s representative and as a relative, tried to overprotect Kim Ho-jung,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kim Ho-jung crossed the center line on a road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul at around 11:40 pm on the 9th and ran away after colliding with a taxi on the opposite side. At 1:59 a.m. on the 10th, two hours after the accident, Kim Ho-jung's manager went to the police station and turned himself in, saying he was the driver, but it was quickly revealed that this was not true. At the same time, suspicions such as Kim Ho-jung's driver switching theory and drunk driving theory grew like a snowball.

In particular, Kim Ho-jung showed actions filled with lies and unreasonable explanations during the post-accident handling process. Kim Ho-joong aroused public outrage by revealing that he would continue the scheduled concert, rather than self-reflect in this situation. Even in a situation where suspicions have snowballed due to the agency's cover-up, it can be read as an intention to proceed with the concert as scheduled and avoid any economic damage.

On the 14th, the agency said through Kim Ho-jung's fan cafe 'Tvarotti', "We plan to proceed with 'Tvarotti Classic Arena Tour 2024' Changwon/Gimcheon and 'World Union Orchestra Super Classic' without any changes to the schedule." “We will do our best to protect our artists, and we promise to protect them no matter what,” they stated shamelessly.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr