Note: This is a full translation of an issue analysis by Korean culture critic Ha Jae-geun. The original article, dated May 16th 2019, first appeared in Dailian News KR.
Translation by: GottaTalk2V1212

The court rejected the arrest warrant for Seungri. From the beginning, it was a questionable request for an arrest warrant. Seungri was suspected of four charges: soliciting prostitution, trafficking, business embezzlement, and violating the food sanitation act. Among them, soliciting prostitution, trafficking, and violation of the food sanitation act are unlikely to be grounds for arrest even if the charges are proven true. Hence, the key was to determine whether or not the business was embezzled.

However, it has been known that the embezzlement charges were not clear. The amount of embezzlement reported by the media were varied and its contents were not accurate either. If the police did secure information, they would have clearly reported who, how much, and how they embezzled. But the figures varied and the details were unclear, raising doubts about the police investigation.

The doubts were amplified at the stage of filing for warrant. Police said they would apply for warrant early this month, but it was postponed. They also said they would do a reinforcement investigation. This led to speculation that the police have not yet secured any confirmation that could put Seungri in custody, especially those that are related to embezzlement.

The request for an arrest warrant, which had been postponed, was finally made. Two possible assumptions were made about this. First, although it is late, it is possible that they have obtained crucial evidence to apply for a warrant. Second, the possibility that they applied for a warrant in consideration of public opinion though they still failed to obtain crucial evidence.

The situation appears to have been the latter, given that the warrant was eventually rejected. The court said that there was "room for contention" over the embezzlement charges. This means that the allegations have not been made clear. Otherwise, Seungri's attitude must have played a positive role. Seungri was originally scheduled to join the military, but applied for a delay on his own. It was originally not allowed, but the documents were reinforced and the application was re-applied, which eventually led to the postponement. And so far, he has fully responded to the investigation. It is said that his attitude of being investigated was sincere.

The police apparently went all out to arrest Seungri this time. They have investigated and summoned Seungri 18 times over 78 days. There was no reason to arrest him, they literally just "brutally beat" him. In other words, it was a target investigation pushed by public-driven opinion.

Originally, it was the investigation into the Burning Sun Gate, but it ended up as Seungri's individual scandal. It felt like it turned into a separate investigation. Sweeping off dust, the continuous media coverage has created a public uproar, and the result in the end was him not being arrested. Critics pointed out up to now that the investigations have been unreasonable.

Public authority should act fairly to the people. It should not act more strictly with celebrities. It is unfair to brutally beat someone based on the public's opinion. It does not make sense to unconditionally detain him either just because many people demanded it.

This is why there are doubts regarding the police's investigation on Seungri.

Another doubt is, where did the 'Burning Sun Gate' disappeared to? Where are the sexual assault, drugs, and collusive ties in Burning Sun? Seungri's personal injustices has become the cornerstone of Burning Sun. 

No matter how much the police investigate, whether they were forced to move on to Seungri's personal injustices due to the lack of allegations in Burning Sun, or whether they intentionally covered up Burning Sun and beat up Seungri for a long time to attract attention, this is where suspicions come in.

If this continues, "beating (the hell out of) Seungri" will likely be remembered as the greatest high-profile investigation led by public opinion. Whereas, the Burning Sun Gate investigation is likely to be remembered as the greatest hasty investigation with its anticlimax. Is this really how things go on this incident that created such a huge impact on society's modern history?