What You Never Knew About Big Bang's Daesung

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I have always been a fan of popular Korean Big Bang which was one of the first Korean boy bands to ride on the Hallyu wave and Big Bang, though fading in obscurity at the moment, was one of the first Korean bands to make it big on international shores.

Big Bang consists of an interesting and eclectic mix of members where each of the 5 members came from diverse, and rather unique, backgrounds.

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Why I chose to write this piece was, when I was watching one of my favourite Korean variety shows Family Outing (Season One), I realised Big Bang member Kang Daesung was not the person he had portrayed himself to be.

He was one of my favourite characters from the beginning of the variety show with his positive outlook and the much needed energetic burst of life in the highly rated show.

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However, there were 2 episodes in which Daesung did not appear as he was nursing his health in the hospital which were coincidentally two of the highest rated episodes, perhaps due to the appearance of Cha Tae Hyun and Jang Hyuk, polar opposites and good friends of Kim Jong Kook who was then a fixed member on Family Outing.

The return of the lazy, nonchalent Cha Concubine, and a newly formed character which exposed an astonishing side to the usually serious Jang Hyuk, brought much entertainment, and a boost to ratings of the show. Perhaps Cha Tae Hyun's appearance was what drew the viewers' attention following his then popular movie which he starred in, called Speedy Scandal.

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Moving back to the Kang Daesung where the Korean Idol sometimes portrays a dominating character in front of new guests and unsuspecting fellow members which causes viewers to be divisive in their views towards him.

His refusal to complete tasks in Episode 68 where he seemed to be recuperating from his poor health and even going to great lengths to convince his 'hyungs' (seniors in Korean) to aid him are unfavourable to the image of a young Idol, especially when he (and his fellow Big Bang members) are considered especially influential to the younger generation. But perhaps all these actions undertaken could have been scripted as it is a variety show after all.

It turned out that each Big Bang member has his own share of scandalous happenings and noteworthy events that have made front-page headlines.

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It was even more surprising to learn that in 2011, the good-natured Daesung had gotten himself into a fatal car accident where he ran over an injured motorcyclist identified as Hyun and crashed into a taxi after. The taxi had pulled over to avoid crashing into the motorcyclist who was reported to have driven under the inlfuence of alcohol.

However, it was also revealed that Daesung was not under the influence of alcohol. Instead, the Big Bang member was speeding at 80km/h, 20km/h more than the speed limit, and hence was unable to steer his car clear in time to avoid running over the already injured motorcyclist.

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Big Bang's agency YG Entertainment and Kang Daesung cooperated with the police investigations, and after a few intense moments for the popular singer, the prosecution committee voted and issued a 'not guilty' verdict. The agency offered compensation to the victim's family.

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As of then, emotions were running high among the public, especially among his critics where accusations ran wild. Kang Daesung stayed out of the public's eye and cancelled all activities planned for the rest of the year out of public pressure and personal guilt where he sought to atone his deeds by isolating himself. He was said to have gone into depression for a long time and even experienced suicidal thoughts.

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When the popular singer finally made his comeback in December 2011, he was seen apologising profusely to the media, the public and his fans and admitted that he had thought of staying away from the entertainment scene for 2 to 3 years. He had only done so for about 7 months.

Big Bang made their comeback concert in March 2012.