A former South Korean government employee has been fined for attempting to sell a lost hat belonging to BTS’ Jungkook online.
Earlier this year, it was reported that a former foreign ministry employee, whose identity has been withheld, had been indicted for attempting to sell a hat belonging to the BTS member for approximately KRW10million (£6,600) after he had left it at the government building.
On Wednesday (May 3), The Korea Herald reported that the employee had been fined KRW1million (£660) by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office earlier that day on charges of attempting to sell the BTS singer’s lost hat online.
A previous report by the media outlet states that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office also intended to return the hat to Jungkook, though the prosecution, idol and his label have yet to provide further updates.
The former employee had allegedly uploaded a photo of the hat on an online second-hand market and claimed that Jungkook had left it at the foreign ministry building after visiting to apply for a new passport.
In the post, they added that the hat had been reported as lost property for six months before they decided to claim ownership of it. The listing was met with backlash, leading the employee to delete the listing and turn themselves in to the police.
Shortly after this, the prosecution stated that HYBE had confirmed to police that the hat did belong to Jungkook. However, neither the label nor the idol have made any public statements regarding the incident.