South Korean rapper B-Free (real name Choi Sung Ho, 39) has been sentenced to prison after being convicted of assaulting an apartment resident, resulting in a visual impairment.
On July 15 KST, the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement Division 27 (Presiding Judge Woo In-sung) sentenced B-Free to 1 year and 4 months in prison for causing bodily injury. The court stated, “The victim sustained a potentially permanent lower visual field defect in the right eye, warranting severe punishment.”
The incident occurred in June 2023 at an apartment complex in Seoul. B-Free reportedly got into a dispute with a security guard over entry issues and then assaulted a resident who intervened. He punched the victim and knocked them to the ground, resulting in facial fractures and traumatic optic nerve damage. The injuries were diagnosed as requiring eight weeks of recovery, with lasting visual impairment in the lower right field of vision.
Although prosecutors had upgraded the charge from simple assault to serious bodily injury, the court did not uphold the latter, ruling that the injuries could not be definitively classified as permanent disability or incurable harm.
In delivering the sentence, the court considered B-Free’s criminal history and lack of remorse. He has six prior convictions, including a previous assault conviction just one day before this incident, for which he was fined 3 million KRW (~2,200 USD). He also received a fine in early 2023 for assaulting a campaign staffer of a National Assembly pre-candidate.
However, the court also acknowledged in his favor that B-Free had expressed a commitment to avoiding violence, citing the lyrics of his song “Magic Hands,” which earned him a Korean Music Award last year.
Both B-Free and the prosecution have appealed the first-instance ruling.
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