Taeil NCT Supreme Court Prison Sentence 2026: 3.5 Years Upheld

The stage lights are officially out. Former NCT member Taeil is headed to prison after South Korea's Supreme Court dismissed his final appeal, bringing a definitive end to a case that has rattled the global K-pop community.

Supreme Court Upholds Taeil's Prison Sentence

On January 6, 2026, the Supreme Court of Korea denied Taeil's appeal, upholding his original sentence for aggravated quasi-rape. The court found no legal grounds to overturn the previous rulings from July and October 2025. As a result, he'll serve three years and six months in prison.

Beyond the jail time, the court ordered Taeil and his two accomplices to complete40 hours of a sex offender treatment program. He's also slapped with a five-year employment restriction, barring him from working in institutions related to children, adolescents, or people with disabilities.

Details of the Aggravated Quasi-Rape Case

The case involved Taeil and his group getting a foreign woman drunk before gang-raping her—a crime defined as quasi-rape because the victim was in an unconscious or defenseless state. Legal experts note that the premeditated nature of the crime against a vulnerable foreign national likely played a key role in the court's decision to maintain the strict sentence, despite the defendant's attempts to make a case for leniency.