Singer Nam Tae-hyun, a former member of the boy band Winner who was booked by police for drunk driving, apologized through his label Noname Music, established by the artist himself, on Friday.

“First, we would like to apologize for the delay in issuing an official statement as we had to confirm the facts. We sincerely apologize for any distress caused by the misconduct of our artist,” the statement reads.

“Unlike some reports, Nam Tae-hyun did not drive tens of meters, he drove the car around 5 meters [16 feet] to park again. However there is no excuse for his careless judgment made while under the influence.”

“Nam Tae-hyun is deeply regretful of his actions and will participate in future police investigations and receive a corresponding punishment. We deeply apologize to everyone,” the statement ended by assuring that the agency will pay more attention to its artists.

According to the police on Wednesday, Nam opened the door to his parked car in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, and damaged a passing taxi in the process, breaking the taxi’s side mirror. He then moved the vehicle before police pulled him over for a breathalyzer test, which was higher than the level needed for one's driver’s license to be revoked.

According to a police official, the police responded to a report to conduct a test for drunk driving, but had to return Nam home after confirming his identity as he was too drunk for investigation. It has been reported that the police are planning to call Nam in for an investigation soon.

Nam debuted as a member of the boy band Winner in 2014 under YG Entertainment. The agency announced his departure from the band in 2016 due to health issues. Nam was called in by the police for investigations in August 2022 after actor Seo Min-jae posted on her social media channels that she and Nam are “drug addicts” and that Nam did methamphetamine.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]