Rain’s stay at luxury hotel suite sparks controversy
Rain‘s actions havecome under fire again.
Recently, Rain has been confirmed to have stayed at a luxury hotel after an event at Jeju Island. Because regular soldiers stay at motels or nearby meeting halls in cases of emergency, the fact that Rain was allowed to stay at a luxury hotel suite that was paid for is fanning the flames to rumors that celebrity recruits are given special treatment.
According to a statement made by the Ministry of Defense on the 7th, Rain andKCMstayed at ‘C’ hotel in the royal suite room. The hotel offers seven different kinds of rooms that cost from 150,000 KRW to 600,000 KRW (approximately 141 USD to 565 USD) nightly. Rain was revealed to have stayed in the most expensive royal suite room with KCM that cost 600,000 KRW for one night. According to the rules of the Defense Media Agency, the celebrity recruits’ dorm fees are provided by the army, and an executive commander was to have stayed with them. However, the hosts of the event reasoned that they should be comfortable and had them stay in a luxurious hotel instead.
A Ministry of Defense representative explained, “Usually when celebrity recruits have performances in other places, they stay at motels and the money is provided by the Defense Media Agency. In the case of Rain, it is true that he stayed at the hotel in June after his Jeju Island concert. However, the money was provided for by the event hosts, Korea Cable Television & Telecommunications Association.”
Rain and other celebrity recruits have been revealed to have stayed at hotels in other cases as well. In November, they stayed at another luxurious hotel. A representative from the army said, “Even if the money was provided from the outside, it is never acceptable for a soldier to stay at an outside hotel, while he is on duty.”
However, the Minstry of Defense then toldTV Report, “Rain stayed at Jeju Island because of an event. 49 people slept over, including 26 workers and 11 directors of the Defense Media Agency. Workers from the Defense Media Agency were with Rain, and they slept together because of their task. People are saying that Rain and KCM stayed together by themselves, but that makes no sense. About 5-6 people slept in the same suite. Also, it was not a luxurious hotel. The hotel cost about 600,000 KRW and was paid for by the Cable Association. Even the soldiers assigned to drive stay with the workers when they are not on base, so they stay at a hotel. This happens often in the army. You can’t pick out every incident. The Ministry of Defense cannot sentence Rain to disciplinary actions because he stayed at a hotel.”