Scandal in Kpop - Promoting Prostitution and Sharing Nonconsensual Spycam Footage

[+ quoththeraven]

This article is a good explainer. The one piece it doesn't cover is that there are credible allegations of law enforcement coverups and corruption both with respect to the clubs where the incident occurred that started all this and the subsequently uncovered chatroom where illegal spycam footage of women filmed in sexual situations without their knowledge was shared. That has people worried that this investigation will be or already has been compromised.

 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/21/k-pops-sexual-assault-scandal-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/

 

Fortunately this doesn't affect anyone I care about. I like two of the groups affected, but one of them is better off with the guy gone even though he was their leader and in the other case (Seungri of BigBang who's the one accused of promoting prostitution and trafficking to suck up to business investors) I'm not all that surprised. There had been a tabloid allegation that he choked a sex partner without getting her okay. It wasn't treated very seriously because it was in a tabloid.

[+ quoththeraven]

This article is a good explainer. The one piece it doesn't cover is that there are credible allegations of law enforcement coverups and corruption both with respect to the clubs where the incident occurred that started all this and the subsequently uncovered chatroom where illegal spycam footage of women filmed in sexual situations without their knowledge was shared. That has people worried that this investigation will be or already has been compromised.

 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/21/k-pops-sexual-assault-scandal-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/

 

Fortunately this doesn't affect anyone I care about. I like two of the groups affected, but one of them is better off with the guy gone even though he was their leader and in the other case (Seungri of BigBang who's the one accused of promoting prostitution and trafficking to suck up to business investors) I'm not all that surprised. There had been a tabloid allegation that he choked a sex partner without getting her okay. It wasn't treated very seriously because it was in a tabloid.

[+ quoththeraven]

Before I forget: Jung Joon Young, formerly the leader of the rock group Drug Restaurant (formerly JJY Band), issued a second apology just before a court interrogation after his arrest for filming and sharing spycam porn of his conquests without their consent. (In the first apology, he announced his retirement from entertainment. His agency terminated his contract with them shortly thereafter.) The apology reads as follows:

 

I apologize. I have committed an unforgivable crime. I admit to all of the charges made against me. I will not argue [about the charges] and humbly abide by the court’s decision. Once again, I deeply apologize to the victims to whom I caused pain, the women who received secondary damages due to groundless rumors, and everyone who showed me interest and love until now. I will faithfully cooperate with the investigations and spend the rest of my life repenting.

 

Source: https://www.soompi.com/article/1311691wpp/watch-jung-joon-young-admits-to-all-charges-and-apologizes-before-interrogation-at-court

 

This is blunter than many, but it is typical of statements in similar circumstances in South Korea. (His earlier statement admitted he shared the spycam video with friends without much of a feeling of guilt. That admission was unusually honest.) Even as a PR move, this is 180 degrees different from what happens in the US.

 

Even the person protesting his innocence has retired from showbiz (for now, at least) and his contract with his agency/record label was terminated.

 

@bigjoey, this is what personal responsibility look like, and it only takes place in cultures that believe everyone bears responsibility toward each other, even if that's not true in practice. Such cultures can also be exacting, judgmental and heavy-handed.

[+ quoththeraven]

Before I forget: Jung Joon Young, formerly the leader of the rock group Drug Restaurant (formerly JJY Band), issued a second apology just before a court interrogation after his arrest for filming and sharing spycam porn of his conquests without their consent. (In the first apology, he announced his retirement from entertainment. His agency terminated his contract with them shortly thereafter.) The apology reads as follows:

 

I apologize. I have committed an unforgivable crime. I admit to all of the charges made against me. I will not argue [about the charges] and humbly abide by the court’s decision. Once again, I deeply apologize to the victims to whom I caused pain, the women who received secondary damages due to groundless rumors, and everyone who showed me interest and love until now. I will faithfully cooperate with the investigations and spend the rest of my life repenting.

 

Source: https://www.soompi.com/article/1311691wpp/watch-jung-joon-young-admits-to-all-charges-and-apologizes-before-interrogation-at-court

 

This is blunter than many, but it is typical of statements in similar circumstances in South Korea. (His earlier statement admitted he shared the spycam video with friends without much of a feeling of guilt. That admission was unusually honest.) Even as a PR move, this is 180 degrees different from what happens in the US.

 

Even the person protesting his innocence has retired from showbiz (for now, at least) and his contract with his agency/record label was terminated.

 

@bigjoey, this is what personal responsibility look like, and it only takes place in cultures that believe everyone bears responsibility toward each other, even if that's not true in practice. Such cultures can also be exacting, judgmental and heavy-handed.

[+ quoththeraven]

I found one of the articles about Jung Joon Young's first statement. He said “I filmed women without their consent and shared it in a social media chatroom, and while I did so I didn’t feel a great sense of guilt.”

 

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8502216/jung-joon-young-confesses-filming-women-without-consent-south-korean-sexual-crime-ring

 

The Cut did an even better general explainer than the one posted above.

 

https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/jung-joon-young-seungri-charged-in-k-pop-sex-video-scandal.html?utm_campaign=thecut&utm_source=tw&utm_medium=s1

[rvwnsd]

I heard about the scandal on NPR, but they did not go into the same level of detail as these stories.

 

Makes me wonder whether the guys will be back in a few years after memories of the scandal have become fuzzy.

[+ quoththeraven]

I heard about the scandal on NPR, but they did not go into the same level of detail as these stories.

 

Makes me wonder whether the guys will be back in a few years after memories of the scandal have become fuzzy.

Some of it depends on whether they are charged and tried and whether they go to jail, if found guilty, but given the potential connection with the previous president, who was impeached and removed in late 2016/early 2017, and South Korea's burgeoning #MeToo movement, I don't know. Although South Korea is notoriously lenient on famous and well-connected men accused of sexual crimes, and concomitantly tough on women, this has stirred up a lot of public outrage.

 

BigBang is unlikely to welcome Seungri back, nor is a record label or agency likely to take him unless he avoids prosecution or is somehow cleared. (His defense is that he was kidding when he talked about providing prostitutes for business associates.) He might try to promote himself by himself. He has a lot of business interests, although the ramen chain he started fired him recently because the connection with Seungri has caused them to lose business.

 

Jung Joon Young is toast. I find it hard to believe he won't be convicted, and there's enough pressure to do something about the spycam epidemic, which so far has seen one of if not the harshest sentence be imposed on a woman who filmed a naked man without his knowledge that I doubt his accepting responsibility, which can be spun as repentance at sentencing (a factor often cited when sentences are suspended), will result in no jail time.

 

The kind of person most likely to return is someone like the guy from Highlight, who composed and produced a lot of the group's songs. If they're not actually on stage, but behind the scenes, they're more likely to be able to return.

 

Koreans have long memories. If this is taken seriously enough, this is going to affect the future prospects of many of them for a long time.

[+ pepa_e_mango]

Well, I've been trying to understand this:

[+ quoththeraven]

For some follow up:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRATt2u7-Jo

JJY is Jung Joon Young, the guy in the thumbnail, who is the one who filmed his partners without their consent and shared the footage with friends. The hosts are twentysomething Seoulites Danny and David Kim (no relation), who both spent part of their childhood in Canada, which is why they speak English without an accent.

[+ quoththeraven]

I heard about the scandal on NPR, but they did not go into the same level of detail as these stories.

 

Makes me wonder whether the guys will be back in a few years after memories of the scandal have become fuzzy.

More followup that makes me think not only is this not going away but that careers are being ruined and ended.

 

http://www.asianjunkie.com/2019/03/31/seungri-booked-on-embezzlement-bribery-charges-providing-prostitution-partially-confirmed-by-police-choi-jong-hoon-booked-for-filming-molka-sex-video/

 

To summarize, Seungri has been booked on bribery and embezzlement charges, some of the claims about promoting prostitution that he himself made in these group chats and now seeks to explain away as lies have been confirmed and Choi Jong Hoon, formerly of FT Island, has been booked for distributing molka (spycam video). (He's also admitted under questioning that he bribed a police officer to suppress news of his arrest and punishment for drunk driving in 2016 after initially denying it.)

 

Unless these cases fall apart in court, or are somehow suppressed between now and then, these guys and Jung Joon Young are toast and likely headed to jail, not just criminal convictions. Also, keep in mind the South Korean public (and Koreans in general) has a long memory and isn't nearly as forgiving as the American public. Sometimes public sentiment swings around when the initial condemnation was ill thought through, such as when former 2PM leader Jay Park was kicked out of the group when newly discovered MySpace entries during his initial training period dissed South Korea in the process of venting about the cultural differences between South Korea and his home in Seattle (he also had to learn Korean, as he didn't grow up speaking it), but most of the time the sentiment remains, no matter how ill founded. I mean, there are people petty enough to petition the Blue House (the South Korean equivalent of the White House) to disqualify BTS from being awarded Artist of the Year in the future by the Mnet Asian Music Awards because BTS won in 2016 and the petitioners feel their favorite group, EXO, was robbed. (BTS has won Artist of the Year at MAMA every year since then.) I feel that even the American public realizes that the government has no jurisdiction over award shows.

[+ quoththeraven]

There have been convictions and actual prison sentences in the spycam portion of this scandal.

 

http://www.asianjunkie.com/2019/11/28/jung-joon-young-choi-jong-hoon-3-others-sentenced-to-prison-for-crimes-including-gang-rape/

[Chad Constantine]

Just cant believe that Dickhead is ruining the good name of FT Island by having him being a now former member of the band.

This is worst then when JYJ and 2NE1 had to either drop members/ disband due to members on drugs.

[+ quoththeraven]

Just cant believe that Dickhead is ruining the good name of FT Island by having him being a now former member of the band.

This is worst then when JYJ and 2NE1 had to either drop members/ disband due to members on drugs.

There have been accusations swirling around Choi Joon Hoon for years. Yes, it sucks for FT Island. Unfortunately there are more rock bands around, idol or otherwise. I'm now more of a Day6 fan than an FT Island fan despite my love of Lee Hongki and Lee Jaejin.

 

While Yoochun was convicted of meth usage, most kpop fans believe he's also a rapist who got away with it because South Korean law requires the use of force or coercion. And 2NE1 broke up because Minzy didn't renew her contract and YG replaced them with Blackpink. To call Park Bom a drug user when the drug involved was confiscated before receipt and was legally prescribed and purchased in the States and the authorities chose not to prosecute is a choice.

 

Interesting that this so-called drug user nevertheless is on music shows and Queendom continuing her career while the man who pushed her out of YG Entertainment had to resign all his positions with YG (though he's still the biggest shareholder).

 

If you want to cite groups affected by drug allegations, start with iKon and B.I's departure.

[+ quoththeraven]

Some new developments: Seungri, ex-Big Bang member and the person whose involvement with the Rising Sun nightclub started this whole thing off, has been indicted for embezzlement, gambling and prostitution mediation (basically using sex services to bribe or reward business partners or potential business partners).

 

https://www.asianjunkie.com/2020/01/30/seungri-indicted-for-mediating-prostitution-and-more-others-involved-in-scandal-also-indicted/