In preparation for his impending army enlistment, actor Joo Ji-hoon has announced that he is shutting down his homepage and refunding members of his official fan club for the remainder of time covered under their club dues.

The Devil and Antique Bakery actor has been living in seclusion at home ever since completing his court-ordered 120 hours of community service in August. This follows the May indictment he faced after being charged for drug use in April. He was given a suspended sentence of six months of jail time pending one year of probation (meaning, if he completes probation successfully, the jail time would be erased). Actress Yoon Seol-hee faced stiffer punishment for smuggling ecstasy and ketamine into the country from Japan, as did model Yeh Hak-young for financing the operations.

According to Joo Ji-hoon’s management, Yeoubeak Entertainment, his homepage will be shut down on December 1. Although he had thought to enlist by the end of the year, he has not yet received his papers so the date isn’t finalized. Apparently there is a waiting list for enlistees, with 1981-ers being processed first as this is their last year to enlist. Joo, born in 1982, technically must enlist by the end of next year, so he may be pushed back and find his enlistment scheduled for January.

Before the scandal broke, Joo was preparing his next acting project, but his future career prospects remain hazy at the moment. Through his homepage, Joo wrote to fans, “With my mistake, I hurt others and left without being able to show a proud and upright image. Rather than showing you my back, I promise that someday I will face you straightforwardly.”

Via My Daily

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Antique Bakery and Devil actor Joo Ji-hoon has completed his 120 hours of court-ordered community service. This is part of the punishment handed down by the judge following his indictment for drug use last month.

Joo began his community service at the beginning of August at a social welfare center in Songpa-gu in Seoul. As with the other employees at the facility, he was there daily from 9 AM to 6 PM, and worked with the disabled and elderly. According to his management on August 20, “He completed his 120 hours of community service as of this morning. For the time being, he plans to remain at home quietly.” Furthermore, the recent rumors that Joo had shorn off all his hair were refuted; it was explained, “He merely cut it short because the weather is hot, but people had interpreted that as more meaningful than it was.”

Regarding his future plans, the management said, “He plans to enlist in military service at the end of this year. He will serve in the first reserve.”

So what does this mean? Joo’s sentence was for 120 hours of community service, 6 months of deferred jail time, and 1 year of probation. According to his sentence, if he is clean for his 1 year, he will not go to jail and that punishment is essentially erased. If he fulfills his army duty, it’s one more step toward rehabilitating his image with the public (and makes his year-long probation rather easy to track).

Via Now News, Newsen

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On the morning of June 23, Joo Ji-hoon appeared in court to receive his sentencing after pleading guilty to drug use of ecstasy and ketamine, and his fans can relax, since he got off pretty lightly.

His punishment is six months of jail with one year of probation (a suspended sentence) and 120 hours of community service, plus a penalty of 360,000 won (which is only approx US $280). That’s lighter than the one year and 440,000 won fine he had sought earlier this month. What this means is, he gets to suspend his six months of hard time while he is on probation for a year; if he remains clean (of any crime, not just drugs), the offense is essentially cleared and he doesn’t have to serve his initial sentence. To clarify: He is NOT going to jail — not yet, and if he’s clean for his probation, not ever.

The decision was explained, “The nature of the crime is by no means light. However, he has reflected deeply on the crime and has not taken any drugs since the time a year and two months ago. Also, many fans from within the country and from overseas have appealed for an appropriate handling of the matter and sent petitions.”

Joo’s lawyer explained, “Of course he must accept the price of his crime, but wrong information kept coming out and exaggerated him as a habitual user, and some of it was unfair.”

As for his partners in crime, actress and trafficker Yoon Seol-hee was given three years in jail, while model and financer Yeh Hak-young and the unidentified Mr./Ms. Jeon were both given two and a half years of jail, but with four years of suspended-sentence probation, plus two years of regular probation and 200 hours of community service.

Via My Daily

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Joo Ji-hoon arrives at court on June 9

Correction: Apologies, I read further to see that the punishment is not final. The prosecutors sought the stated prison terms for the accused, but the official sentencing comes in two weeks.

Joo Ji-hoon appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on June 9 for a hearing after being caught using drugs (ecstasy and ketamine), where he sought a 1-year prison term and a penalty of 440,000 won.

On this day, Joo Ji-hoon, actress Yoon Seol-hee, and model Yeh Hak-young all admitted to their wrongdoing, and Joo said, “I am deeply regretful of my mistake.” In his final statements, he added, “As one person acting in one moment, I could not restrain my curiosity and ended up hurting many people. I have vowed not to do anything like this again.”

His lawyer added, “Joo Ji-hoon took the drugs while very intoxicated, and did not take any more after the incident last year in April. He had postponed his enlistment date to October 2009, but if he postpones it because of this incident, he will come back a new person after serving his military duty.”

The other celebrities caught up in the scandal sought harsher punishments for trafficking and selling the drugs on multiple occasions: 7 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 13.2 million won for Yoon Seol-hee, the trafficker in the scandal, and 5 years and a 2.26 million won penalty for Yeh Hak-young. They will all receive announcement of their verdict and sentencing at a public hearing on June 23.

(I know a year in prison sounds pretty harsh for a celebrity drug scandal… but I actually think Joo Ji-hoon could face much, much worse. A year is enough time for him to drop out of the public eye, after which he can serve out his military duty, and return with a rehabilitated image in three years. Given that he has to do the army duty regardless, it’s as good a time as any to drop out of the spotlight and let people forget about him for a while.)

Via Break News

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This isn’t really a surprise, nor is it really even necessary: following the KBS banning of actor Joo Ji-hoon and his partners in drug-crime (drug trafficker Yoon Seol-hee and funder Yeh Hak-young), broadcast station MBC is following suit.

I say it’s not necessary because even without the ban, it’s unlikely Joo would be hired again anytime soon, but I suppose those stations like to make their symbolic gestures. Actor Na Han-il also suffers the same punishment for taking illegal loans and bribing bank officials. (He was also included in the KBS ban.)

(In the last post, you guys asked for uglier pics of Joo Ji-hoon to soften the blow, so I went and looked for the least attractive photos I could find. I hope this does the job.)

Via Star News

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