Two more K-pop stars embroiled in sex video scandal
By AFP
PUBLISHED: 05:41 GMT, 14 March 2019 | UPDATED: 10:06 GMT, 14 March 2019
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Jung Joon-young was questioned by police Thursday after admitting he shared sex videos taken of his partners without their consent
Two more K-pop stars quit Thursday, their agencies said, as a scandal over illicit sex videos and other offences rippled further across South Korea's music industry.
Yong Jun-hyung, 29, left boy band Highlight -- formerly known as Beast -- after he admitted watching videos of singer-songwriter Jung Joon-young having sex with women taken without their consent, his agency said.
Hours later, managers for Choi Jong-hoon, 29, a member of boy band FT Island, announced his retirement saying that he would be questioned by police later this week over "suspicions" he was involved in the scandal.
Choi is believed to have been a member of a online chatroom where Jung shared the footage -- as is mega K-pop star Seungri.
Both Seungri and Jung announced their retirements from showbusiness earlier this week.
Jung, 30, was questioned by police on Thursday over the videos, while Seungri -- a member of boy band BIGBANG with a range of business interests -- was also interviewed for allegedly providing prostitutes to his potential investors.
Both men apologised to "all Korean citizens" when they reported to police and promised to co-operate with the inquiries.
Yong received the footage directly from Jung, watched it and had an "inappropriate conversation" with him, his agency Around Us Entertainment said in a statement.
South Korea has been battling a growing epidemic of so-called "molka", or spycam videos -- mostly of women, secretly filmed by men.
As well as secretly filming women in schools, toilets and offices, "revenge porn" -- videos taken of sexual relations without the other partner's consent -- is believed to be equally widespread.
According to Han Sol, an activist at Flaming Feminist Action, such videos have long been watched and shared by South Korean men as a form of entertainment and a way to strengthen their "brotherly ties".
Yong, who has also worked as a record producer and actor, had previously denied allegations that he had been involved in the ongoing K-pop sex scandal, which has threatened to overturn the industry's "wholesome" image.
For South Korean women's activists, the scandal, including the latest revelation, is unsurprising.
Thousands of women protested in Seoul last year on several occasions against spycam and revenge porn videos, as part of the country's growing #MeToo movement.
"This case just shows that male K-pop stars are no exception when it comes to being part of this very disturbing reality that exploits women," women's rights activist Bae Bok-ju told AFP.
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SEOUL (Reuters) - Police in South Korea questioned two K-pop stars and two other singers resigned on Thursday, as accusations of sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape rocked the music industry and hit entertainment stocks.
The blame game triggered by accusations against the boyish stars who epitomize an industry that carried South Korean pop culture to the global stage is rooted in concerns the business has neglected morality in its lust for fame and fortune.
Singer Lee Seung-hyun, 28, better known by the stage name Seungri, is suspected of paying for prostitutes for foreign businessmen to drum up investment in his business.
He denies any wrongdoing and said he would cooperate with a police investigation when he arrived at Seoul’s Metropolitan Police Agency.
“I am sorry to the nation and everyone who has been hurt,” Lee told reporters, but did not elaborate.
Police have said Lee, a member of the group BIGBANG who is nicknamed South Korea’s “Great Gatsby” for his lavish lifestyle, is suspected of what is known as “sexual bribery”.
On Monday, Lee said he was leaving the entertainment industry to fight the accusations.
Also in trouble is singer and television celebrity Jung Joon-young.
Seungri, a member of South Korean K-pop band Big Bang, arrives to be questioned over a sex bribery case at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul, South Korea, March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
On Wednesday, Jung admitted to having shared videos he took secretly while having sex with women. He appeared at the same police station earlier on Thursday to help police with an investigation into suspicions that he distributed the videos.
Jung’s agency, MAKEUS Entertainment, has terminated his contract and he has been barred from leaving the country while police question him.
Lawyers for Jung could not be reached for comment.
Lee and Jung were both members of online chat groups where secret sex tapes were shared, and men joked about drugging and raping women, the broadcaster SBS said.
A third performer, Yong Jun-hyung, expressed remorse in a post on Instagram about watching a sex video shared by Jung, and making inappropriate comments on it.
“I was stupid,” he said, while denying he made or shared any illegal recordings.
Yong’s agency, Around US Entertainment, said he would quit the boyband Highlight “to prevent the group’s reputation from being damaged”.
In a statement late on Thursday, FNC Entertainment said singer Choi Jong-hoon would leave the band FT Island after chat messages suggested a police official helped hide the fact that Choi had been caught drunk driving, Yonhap news agency said.
In a message posted on Instagram, Choi apologized, expressed embarrassment and regret, and said he would be ending his entertainment career, but did not address specific accusations.
Slideshow (13 Images)
‘WALKING TIME BOMB’
Industry commentators have taken aim at the business managers, notorious for demanding the toughest training regimes and controlling every aspect of young stars’ lives.
The focus on finding the winning song and dance formula came at the cost of the performers’ “moral education”, said entertainment commentator Ha Jae-keun, adding that many companies covered up problems until it was too late.
“If the agencies do not give sufficient care to their stars, including education and stress management, they will end up raising walking time bombs,” said another industry commentator, Kim Sung-soo.
The South Korean public is demanding action and selling shares in the industry.
A petition for the president to crack down on predatory and corrupt practices exposed by the scandals has drawn more than 200,000 signatures.
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Shares of Lee’s agency, YG Entertainment, fell more than 20 percent after his sex bribery scandal was first reported on Feb. 26, while shares of other top music companies have been hit.
YG said on Wednesday it would terminate Lee’s contract at his request. A company source told Reuters the future of BIGBANG as a group had not been decided.
But some fans are already walking away.
“What a scumbag. I am ashamed to say I used to be a BIGBANG fan,” said Jenny Eusden, an English teacher in South Korea.
“I just want people to know this is not OK.”
YG Entertainment should explain, said Kaori Kuwabara, a 52-year-old Japanese fan of BIGBANG.
“My friends told me that I should stop being a fan of K-pop,” she said while waiting outside the company’s office in Seoul, hoping to demand answers from its officials.
Reporting by Joori Roh and Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez
