iKON’s B.I announces withdrawal from group after admitting that he attempted to buy drugs

K-pop idol B.I from boy group iKON has announced that he will leave the band after he was reported to have attempted to purchase drugs three years ago.

This morning (June 12), Korean media outlet Dispatch reported the singer, also known as Kim Han Bin, tried to purchase marijuana and LSD from a dealer in 2016 and even revealed text messages on instant messaging platform KakaoTalk to back up their claim.

In the messages, B.I allegedly said that he “wants to use (LSD) forever” and was “debating if I should buy 10 or 1 million won (S$11,540 and S$1,154 respectively)” worth of drugs even though it was his first time. The unnamed dealer testified during police investigations that they delivered the drugs to B.I in front of iKON’s dorm on May 3, 2016. However, B.I was never contacted about the case.

His label, YG Entertainment, responded to the reports by saying that they do not allow their artistes to abuse drugs and that B.I has no relation to the drug case. They continued that they perform drug tests on their artistes every two months.

However, B.I has stepped forward to post his side of things, as he updated his Instagram with an apology hours after YG’s statement was released.

“Firstly, I’m very sorry to have caused problems because of the inappropriate things I did,” he wrote. “It’s true that I wanted to rely on things that I should have never had an interest in while I was in a brief state of distress in the past. I did not (use it) because I was afraid to do so. I apologise to all the fans and members who must have been disappointed and hurt by my wrongdoings.”

“I want to leave (iKON) to reflect on myself. Again, I apologise.”

YG has confirmed that B.I has left the group, and that they have terminated their contract with him.

This revelation comes shortly after former label mate Seungri, who was from BIGBANG, was embroiled in a scandal that involved prostitution, rape, drugs, tax evasion, illegal gambling and the filming of hidden camera footage.

Photo: YG Entertainment, iKON B.I/Instagram