Sex Scandals Take Down 2 K-Pop Stars

More could be coming
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2019 10:40 AM CDT
Sex Scandals Take Down 2 K-Pop Stars
In this July 29, 2014, file photo, members of the K-pop group Big Bang (from left, Seungri, G-Dragon, and Taeyang) pose for photos during a promotional event in Hong Kong.   (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

South Korea's K-pop industry has a growing sex scandal on its hands. One K-pop star was charged this week with running an illegal prostitution ring, and now another singer has admitted to sharing secretly filmed videos of himself having sex. Jung Joon-young, 30, released a statement admitting he filmed women without their consent and shared the footage in an online chatroom, also without their consent. He has been charged with illegal filming and leaking visual material. "I kneel down to apologize to the women who appear in the videos and all those who might be disappointed and upset at this shocking incident," his statement says. There were two other male artists in the chatroom, the Guardian reports, and secret footage of at least 10 women was shared by members.

One of the other chatroom members was allegedly Seungri, member of the boy band Big Bang, who was hit with the prostitution ring charges. The 28-year-old has denied the accusation that he procured prostitutes for potential business investors at Seoul nightclubs, but he did announce his retirement this week. The news comes as an epidemic of what the BBC refers to as "spy cam porn" engulfs South Korea, with more than 6,000 cases reported in 2017. Referred to in the country as "molka," secretly filmed images—sometimes recorded by hidden cameras in bathrooms and changing rooms—are shared online without the victims' knowledge. A talent agency is refuting reports that a third star, a member of another boy band, was in the same chatroom group that Jung and Seungri were allegedly part of. (Last year's K-pop scandal had to do with a shirt.)

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