Burning Sun scandal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

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 name Club Burning Sun

Date February 23, 2018 – February 17, 2019

Duration 11 months – closed during investigation

Venue Burning Sun nightclub inside Le Méridien Hotel

Location 120 Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06124, South

Korea

Also known as Burning Sun gate

Type Entertainment and sex scandal

First reporter Kim Sang-kyo

 Burning Sun co-CEO Lee Sung-hyun (11)

Participants
 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. It was
the largest scandal to hit the K-pop industry. The allegations of sex crimes involved
added to the country's "epidemic" of what is called molka, a Korean word for the online
distribution of unconsented 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 he 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]
On International Women's Day on March 8, 2019, the scandal led to a street protest in
Gangnam against the Burning Sun and other nightclubs, calling for an end to what the
protesters called a culture that treats women as sexual objects. [18][19] Although thousands
of women had rallied in 2018 against illicit filming and sharing, the allegations against
the idealized image of pop idols still surprised the public. [20] The serious nature of the
scandal prompted a response from President Moon Jae-in, who ordered a thorough
investigation.[3][21][22]
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 Kang to cover
for an underage clubgoer incident, but Kang's one-year prison sentence was overturned
for lack of evidence that he had received the money. 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, 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 their potential
Japanese investors with prostitutes and received a suspended sentence of three years
probation for that 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 at trial, 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.

Contents

 1Background

o 1.1Burning Sun nightclub

o 1.2Other clubs

o 1.3Seungri's background as a businessman

 1.3.1Seungri's friends and scandal participants

 2Development

o 2.12019: Scandal begins and cases develop

 2.1.1January 28, Kim Sang-kyo assault at Burning Sun reported

 2.1.2Initial allegations at Burning Sun

 2.1.3February 26, first KakaoTalk messages revealed

 2.1.4Seungri booked

 2.1.5March 11, Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms and source

revealed

 2.1.6April 1 – end of year, Seungri's business partner admits to hiring

prostitutes, and first arrest warrant fails
  2.1.7Other investigations

o 2.22020: Indictments and trials continue

 2.2.1Seungri second arrest warrant fails, prosecution indicts without

arrest

 2.2.2Seungri's military trial begins

o 2.32021 – 2022: Final trials

 2.3.1Seungri's military trial concludes and appeals filed

 3Investigative reporting

 4Investigation summary

 5Women's issues and public protests

 6Effects on entertainment industry

 7Public response

 8References

 9External links

Background[edit]
Burning Sun nightclub[edit]

Closed entrance of Club Burning Sun, Le Méridien Hotel, Gangnam. March 27, 2019.
The Burning Sun nightclub, (Hangul: 클럽 버닝썬, Club Burning Sun),[23] opened at
the Le Méridien Seoul hotel in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, on February 23, 2018,
[24]
 and closed during the investigation of the scandal on February 17, 2019. [25] The
upscale hotel had just replaced the Ritz Carlton Hotel and opened in September 2017,
months before the Burning Sun's opening.[26] The nightclub was often called "Seungri's
Club", due to its affiliation with K-pop idol Seungri of Big Bang.[27]
The Burning Sun advertised itself as, “the most elegant and finest club in South Korea".
[24]
 It included a basement level for EDM, a second level for hip hop, VIP admittance, 60
VIP tables near the DJ box and stage, spacious dance floors and accommodation for
1000 guests. The drink menu listed Armand de Brignac champagne and Louis
XIII cognac sets, priced in the thousands of dollars. [24][28][29] The sound system was set up
by Funktion-One, a specialized overseas company, whose sound expert, Tony
Andrews, was invited to the club for sound tuning. Seungri served as one of the DJs,
along with other local and visiting guest artists like R3hab.[28][30]
The club's CEOs were Lee Moon-ho and Lee Sung-hyun, a former board member of the
company that operated the Le Méridien Seoul hotel. [31][32] Seungri was one of seven in-
house directors, and resigned from his position in January 2019. [33] Seungri was the co-
founder of Yuri Holdings, a shareholder of Burning Sun Entertainment that operated the
club.[34] which owned as much as 20 percent in shares, [35] and which was established in
March 2016, with Yoo In-seok, to manage his restaurant and entertainment businesses.
[36]
 Seungri resigned from his position in mid February [32] and Yoo resigned on March 13.
[37]
 Seungri described his relationship to the club in an interview with The Chosun Ilbo,
published on March 22, 2019, saying that CEO Lee Moon-ho, a friend of his, was the
operator of the club and in charge, while Seungri's name was used for marketing, after
his initial investment of 10 million won (around US$8,800). [38] In the interview, Seungri
said the breakdown of Burning Sun's shares were as follows: owners of Le Méridien
Seoul, 42 percent; Lee Sung-hyun (CEO of Le Méridien Seoul), 8 percent; Yuri
Holdings, 20 percent, Madam Lin (Taiwanese investor), 20 percent; and Lee Moon-ho,
10 percent.[30]
Other clubs[edit]
Monkey Museum was the first Gangnam club to associate Seungri's name, and opened
on July 27, 2016, in the upscale neighborhood of Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu. It
was a trendy hip hop lounge-style bar,[39][40] co-owned by Seungri, Yoo and a group of K-
pop singers.[41] During the scandal's investigation, it became one of the first non-relevant
charges against Seungri, of illegal operation as a bar, while it was registered as a
restaurant;[42] and later involved allegations of embezzlement of funds by Seungri and
Yoo.[41]
Arena (or Club Arena) was a dance club that opened in 2014 in Nonhyeon-dong,
Gangnam-gu. It was known as a TV and sports celebrity hang-out, had a reputation for
a very strict dress code, and could accommodate 700 guests with separate EDM and
hip hop dance floors.[43] It was another club Seungri was affiliated with, and where he
was alleged to have made arrangements for investors to receive sexual favors. [44] The
owner, last name Kang, and another of the club's operators, were arrested on tax
evasion charges during the scandal's investigation. [45]
Seungri's background as a businessman[edit]
The club's scandal was heightened in the media, exacerbated by Seungri's wide
popularity and his possible business connections to it. [46] He had developed a second
career in business,[47][48] and the nightclub business was not his first business venture,
having been preceded by several others: a Japanese ramen restaurant chain,
cosmetics, a Belgian waffle cafe, and a record company co-founded with his agency YG
Entertainment.[49][47] He invested in biotechnology and nanotechnology and the
development of masks for yellow dust protection,[50] and failed at real estate and
electronic businesses.[49] He closed his successful vocal and dance academy, the Joy
Dance – Plug In Music Academy, which he first opened in 2011, in his home town
of Gwangju, with branches around South Kore