A former Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee who tried to sell Jungkook’s hat online has pleaded guilty to all charges.
On November 7, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul announced that they had completed their investigation of a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee who posted online to sell a hat worn by Jungkook.
Earlier, the person tried to sell the hat Jungkook was wearing for 10 million won (approximately $7,100), posting a photo of the hat online along with an image of a government employee’s ID card. This person claimed that Jungkook left the hat in the waiting room when BTS visited the passport division to produce their passports and that they gained ownership of the hat because no one called or visited to claim ownership for six months after it was reported lost property.
However, it emerged that there was no record of the hat being reported as lost from the Department of Foreign Affairs or the National Police Agency. Because it became controversial, the person in question deleted the post and turned himself in to the police in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province.
BTS’ agency HIVE reportedly responded to the police saying, “It’s true that [Jungkook] lost his hat at that place (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
When the issue was raised during the General Audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the National Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification held on October 24, Minister Park Jin said, “If it is confirmed to be true, we will deal with it strictly according to the related regulations.”
Meanwhile, a police official said they were reviewing legal guidelines for possible charges and that it had not been decided whether the hat would be returned.