Back فضيحة ملهى الشمس الحارقة Arabic Σκάνδαλο Burning Sun Greek Escándalo del Burning Sun Spanish Scandale du Burning Sun French Skandal Burning Sun ID Scandalo del Burning Sun Italian バーニング・サン事件 Japanese 버닝썬 게이트 Korean Skandal Burning Sun Malay Скандал клуба «Палящее Солнце» Russian

Burning Sun scandal

Burning Sun scandal
Seungri, 2018 and Jung Joon-young, 2015
Main Korean idols involved in the Burning Sun scandal and Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms
Native name 클럽 버닝썬
English nameClub Burning Sun
DateFebruary 23, 2018 – February 17, 2019 (2018-02-23 – 2019-02-17)
Duration11 months – closed during investigation
VenueBurning Sun nightclub inside Le Méridien Hotel
Location120 Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06124, South Korea
Also known asBurning Sun gate
TypeEntertainment and sex scandal
First reporterKim Sang-kyo
Participants
  • Burning Sun co-CEO Lee Sung-hyun (11)
  • Burning Sun co-CEO Lee Moon-ho (9, 11)
  • Seungri (1-7)
  • Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In-seok (1, 4, 6)
  • Yang Hyun-suk (1, 2, 3)
  • Former Gangnam police officer Kang (12)
  • Senior SMPA police official Yoon Gyu-geun (12, 13)
  • Burning Sun investor Madam Lin (6)
  • Cheonwon Industries CEO Choi Tae-young (6)
  • Club Arena owner Kang (8)
  • Club Arena owner Lin (8)
  • Clubgoer and first reporter Kim Sang-kyo (14)
  • Burning Sun MD Cho (9, 10)
  • Additional Burning Sun participants (1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10)
  • Other entertainment venue participants (7, 9, 10, 14)
Charges
  • 1 mediating or purchasing prostitution
  • 2 habitual or overseas gambling
  • 3 illegal currency transactions
  • 4 business operations violations
  • 5 instigating violence
  • 6 embezzlement
  • 7 taking or sharing illegal images
  • 8 tax evasion
  • 9 habitual drug use
  • 10 drug smuggling and distribution
  • 11 bribing police officials
  • 12 accepting bribes (police officials)
  • 13 misuse of power (police officials)
  • 14 sexual assault or rape

The Burning Sun scandal, also known as Burning Sun gate,[1][2] was a 2019 entertainment and sex scandal in Seoul, South Korea, which involved several celebrities, including Korean idols of popular K-pop groups, and police officials. The allegations of sex crimes added to the country's "epidemic" of what is called molka, a Korean word for the online distribution of nonconsensual sex videos taken of women, and the scandal became fodder for political parties, who argued over how to handle it.[3][4][5]

It began on January 28, 2019, when MBC Newsdesk reported a November 2018 alleged assault of a male clubgoer at the Burning Sun, a prominent nightclub in Gangnam, by a staff member.[6][7][8] The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency investigation soon turned to one concerning the club's alleged involvement in prostitution, drug trafficking and police corruption.[9] Seungri of the band Big Bang, one of the club's directors,[10] subsequently resigned from the entertainment industry on March 11, 2019, after being charged with sexual bribery.[11][12] The scandal quickly encompassed allegations of rape and spy cams when singer and entertainer Jung Joon-young confessed to secretly filming himself having sex with women and sharing the videos, without their knowledge or consent, in the Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms, and he resigned from the entertainment industry on March 12, 2019. While looking into the Burning Sun scandal, SBS funE had discovered videos dated from 2015 to 2016, as well as conversations Jung shared in chat groups on the social media app KakaoTalk with Seungri and acquaintances.[13][14] The chatroom exposé immediately affected a few celebrities, and more as the case developed. On March 14, Yong Jun-hyung of Highlight and Choi Jong-hoon of F.T. Island resigned from their positions, after allegations they were participants in the chatrooms,[15][16] and the agency for Lee Jong-hyun of CNBLUE admitted his involvement on March 15.[17]

Legal proceedings for criminal investigations generated by the scandal continued into 2021. Although several police officers were disciplined for their actions involving the Burning Sun club, the two highest profile cases resulted in trial acquittals. Burning Sun's co-CEO, Lee Sung-hyun, testified that he had paid a former police officer named Kang to cover for an underage clubgoer incident, but Kang's one-year prison sentence was overturned for lack of evidence. Also, a well publicized case involved a senior police official, Yoon Gyu-geun, who was arrested for allegations of bribery and mediating favors for the Burning Sun club and others, which ended with an innocent verdict at his first trial. Among other verdicts, Burning Sun's co-CEO, Lee Moon-ho, was sentenced to a year in prison for habitual drug use, including ecstasy and ketamine in Gangnam clubs, and one of the club's promoters, MD Cho, was sentenced to four years and six months for drug use and smuggling. Due to public interest in the scandal, police conducted drug sweeps at entertainment venues that yielded hundreds of drug-related arrests, a large percentage involving ecstasy and GHB, a common date rape drug; along with cases of sexual assault and rape, and the filming of illegal videos during drug use.

Seungri's business associate, Yoo In-seok, admitted to providing potential Japanese investors with prostitutes and received a suspended sentence of three years probation and an embezzlement charge. Seungri's entertainment agency head, Yang Hyun-suk, admitted to gambling and illegal money transactions in Las Vegas casinos and was sentenced to paying a fine, along with three YG and YGX associates. Seungri's case concluded in January 2022 in a military appeals court, with a reduced prison sentence of one year and a half and a fine. The nine charges included habitual gambling overseas and illegal money transactions, prostitution mediation and purchase, violence instigation, violation of the Specific Economic Crimes Act, embezzlement, sharing illicit photos, and a business operations violation.

  1. ^ Kil, Sonia (March 28, 2019). "K-Pop Crime Cartel Revealed as Korea's Burning Sun Scandal Expands". Variety. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  2. ^ Lee, Suh-yoon (May 17, 2019). "'Not again,' women's groups say after Burning Sun probe fails to bring justice". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  3. ^ Suzuki, Sotaro (March 21, 2019). "K-pop scandal spills into South Korea's political arena". Nikkei Asian Review. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Borowiec, Steven (March 19, 2019). "Commentary: BIGBANG's Seungri's sex trafficking scandal and the end of K-pop's innocence". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  5. ^ Munzenrieder, Kyle (March 12, 2019). "Seungri and Jung Joon-Young Retire Amid a K-Pop Scandal That's Rocking South Korea". W. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  6. ^ Jung, Da-min (February 8, 2019). "Seungri apologizes over growing Burning Sun club scandal". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  7. ^ Ock, Hyun-ju (March 19, 2019). "[Newsmaker] State authority blocks truth, says man who blew open Burning Sun scandal". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  8. ^ Ock, Hyun-ju (March 19, 2019). "Police accelerate probe into Burning Sun scandal". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  9. ^ Kang, Haeryun (March 19, 2019). "The K-pop sexual assault scandal is just the beginning". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Mokhtazar, Syahirah (February 3, 2019). "#Showbiz: Seungri apologises over 'Burning Sun' scandall". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  11. ^ Herman, Tamar (March 11, 2019). "BIGBANG's Seungri Retires From Entertainment Industry". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  12. ^ Kim, Jae-heun (March 10, 2019). "Big Bang's Seungri booked on sex bribery charge". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  13. ^ "Jung Joon-young: K-pop star quits over secret sex videos". BBC News. March 13, 2019. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  14. ^ Lee Dong-hwi; Pyo Tae-jun; Yoon Soo-jung (March 13, 2019). "Jung Joon-young Booked in Sex Tape Scandal". The Chosun Ilbo. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  15. ^ Hurst, Daniel (March 14, 2019). "'I was stupid': K-pop scandal engulfs third star who admits watching secret sex video". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  16. ^ Lee, Hakyung Kate (March 15, 2019). "Sex scandal sweeps through South Korean music industry". ABC News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  17. ^ "CNBLUE member Lee Jong-hyun admits to involvement in sex scandal". The Korea Times. March 17, 2019. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.

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