TV Personality Grilled Over Drunk Driving

Published on 2014/11/24 | Source

TV personality Noh Hong-chul, who was caught on suspicion of drunk driving on Nov. 8, appeared before police for questioning at the crack of dawn Sunday.

Gangnam police said Noh showed up at 5:30 a.m. and was questioned for about an hour and a half. He had told police Saturday that he wanted to come early to avoid media attention.

Noh told police he had not meant to drive. He claimed he parked his car temporarily to meet a friend from the U.S. very briefly, but the meeting took longer, so he got into the car hoping to find a better parking spot.

He claimed he thought he had driven no more than 20 to 30 m but in fact it was 150 m when he was stopped by police.

He refused a breathalyzer test at the scene so a blood sample was collected at a nearby hospital and sent off for forensic analysis. The test showed Noh's blood alcohol level at 0.105 percent, drunk enough to have his driver's license revoked.

He has canceled all TV appearances over the scandal.