Actor Lee Jae-ryong denies 'drink dilution' charge in hit-and-run trial

Actor Lee Jae-ryong, who allegedly fled the scene of a hit-and-run accident in Gangnam and then continued drinking at a separate gathering, denied the so-called "drink dilution" charge in court Friday.

At the first hearing of Lee's case — held before Senior Judge Lee Jae-wook of Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 10 — Lee's defense attorney said the actor acknowledged the charge of failing to take required action after an accident but denied the charge of obstructing a breathalyzer test.

"The intent was that he had no purpose of making it difficult to conduct a breathalyzer test," the attorney said.

Lee Jae-ryong attended the hearing and told the court he was an actor when asked his occupation.

The court scheduled one additional hearing for March 24 next year, at which witnesses — including people who were present at the drinking gathering with Lee and police officers who responded to the accident scene — will be questioned.

Lee Jae-ryong is accused of crashing his vehicle into a median barrier near Cheongdam Station in Gangnam-gu at around 11 p.m. on March 6 this year and fleeing the scene. He allegedly parked his car at a residence in Cheongdam-dong immediately after the accident, attended a separate drinking gathering, and was arrested at an acquaintance's home about three hours later.

Lee initially denied driving under the influence when apprehended but reversed course the following day, saying he had drunk four glasses of soju before driving and had thought he had only lightly grazed the median barrier. Three days later, during a police investigation, he reportedly explained that he had drunk about one glass of distilled liquor from a beer glass at the second gathering and that it had been a pre-arranged appointment, not an attempt at drink dilution.

Prosecutors charged Lee Jae-ryong with obstructing a breathalyzer test under the Road Traffic Act, concluding that he had consumed more alcohol after the accident in order to interfere with blood alcohol measurement — the practice known as "drink dilution." However, they dropped the drunk driving charge after determining it could not be clearly established that his blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving had been 0.03 percent or above.

The offense of obstructing a breathalyzer test punishes the use of alcohol or medication to impede blood alcohol measurement. The provision was introduced following trot music singer Kim Ho-joong's drunk driving accident in 2024 and took effect in June last year. Conviction carries a prison term of one to five years or a fine of 5 million won ($3,750) to 20 million won.