countryhe’d... hadsex.HeappearedinKoreanandJapanese
moviesandvarietyshows,andin 2018 embarkedonhisfirst
solotour,tosupporthisalbumTheGreatSeungri, whosecover
depictedhimina Gatsby-esquetuxedo.
EvenashereachedtheheightsofKoreanentertainment,
Seungrifaceda loomingchallenge.AllSouthKoreanmenmust
serveinthemilitaryforuptotwoyears—understandable,ina
countrystillformallyatwarwithitsnorthernneighbor.K-pop
starstendtodeferserviceforaslongastheycan,buttheymust,
almostwithoutexception,enterthemilitaryby28.Tastesshift
quickly,andonceanidolhasdisappearedfromthepubliceye
hemayneverregainprominence.Thisdeadlinepushesmany
malestarstodiversifytheirincomebyinvestinginrestaurants,
bars,fashionlabels,andrealestate.Seungri,whowasdueto
enlistthisyear,tooka moreenergeticapproachthanmost,start-
inga ramenchainandtakinga stakeina cosmeticscompany.
HealsoinvestedinBurningSun,a nightclubinthebasementof
Gangnam’sLeMéridienhotel,servingasthefaceofitsmarket-
ingeffortsandmakingperiodicappearancesasa DJ.
InDecembera music-videoartdirectornamedKimSang-kyo
postedtoanonlineforumanaccountofa nighthe’drecently
spentatBurningSun.Kimsaidthatashewasleavinga friend’s
birthdaypartyintheearlyhoursofthemorning,a womanhe
didn’tknowranupbehindhim,apparentlyseekingprotec-
tionfroma manwhowaschasingher.WhenKimtriedtostand
betweenthem,themanthrewa punch,followedbyseveral
otherswhodidthesame.Outside,BurningSunsecurityguards
continuedthebeating.AccordingtoKim,thepolicedismissed
hisaccountandacceptedtheguards’explanationofwhathad
occurred, taking him into custody and delivering yet another
beating. Officers later accused Kim of engaging in sexual harass-
ment himself, which he denies.
His post went viral in January, prompting
Seoul police to investigate. After local media
published transcripts of texts that they claimed
showed Seungri arranging prostitutes for vis-
iting investors, officers questioned him about
suspicions that women were being trafficked
and assaulted at Burning Sun. They declared
him an official suspect in a prostitution inves-
tigation in March. His lawyer declined to com-
ment on the allegations, though Seungri has
previously denied wrongdoing. (Burning Sun
is no longer in business.)
In keeping with K-pop’s intolerance for
scandal, Seungri immediately announced that
he’d retire from the entertainment industry.
The same day, the Korean press published
chat transcripts showing another star, Jung
Joon-young, sharing videos of sex partners
apparently taken without their knowledge.
Another person in the chat discussed drug-
ging a woman. In response to one story, Jung
said, “You raped her,” followed by a symbol
for laughter. He was indicted for sexual assaultandforfilmingwomenwithouttheirconsent;hehasdeniedthe
firstchargebutadmittedtothesecond.
Laterthat month,President MoonJae-in calledfora
wide-ranginginvestigationofsexoffenseslinkedtotheenter-
tainmentindustryandorderedthereopeningofinquiries
intopastallegations.Theseincludedthecaseof29-year-old
actressJangJa-yeon,whodiedbysuicidein 2009 afterleav-
inga notethatsaidshe’dbeenforcedtosleepwithmorethan
30 prominentmen.
Therevelationscontinued,andforthefirsttimeit seemed
asif a businessobsessedwithmanagingitsimagemightburst
open.Moremusicianswereinvestigatedforsharingspycamvid-
eos,andseveralpoliceofficerswereaccusedofcooperatingwith
BurningSun’sownerstooverlookdruguseandabusivebehavior
attheclub.KoreanmediaatonepointreportedthatYangHyun-
suk,YG’sfounderandheadproducer,hadusedprostitutesto
courttheZeligofAsiansleaze—financierJhoLow,who’sfacing
criminalcharges(whichhedenies)intheU.S.andMalaysia,for
theallegedlootingofa Malaysiansovereignwealthfund.The
menhadbeenintroducedbyPsy,theGangnamStylestar.(Low
deniedengaginginimproperbehaviorinSouthKorea.After
aninvestigation,policedeclinedtopursuepimpingcharges
againstYang,whosteppeddownfromhisexecutivepositions
inhopesof“stabilizingYG,”accordingtoa statementheissued
inJune.“Shamelessandhumiliatingwordsarebeingthought-
lesslyspreadasif theyarethetruth,”hewrote.)
Thestorytookanevendarkerturnwhena mannamedJoo
Won-kyucameforward.A Methodistpastor,Joohadworkedfor
a decadewithrunawayteenagersinGangnam.Around 2016 he
noticed that many of them, particularly girls, were dropping out
of contact. He eventually traced several to nightspots where they
were working as “hostesses,”
often with fake IDs because
they were underage. To learn
more he got work delivering
liquor and fixing equipment
at clubs, including the venue
that later became Burning
Sun. He alleged that the clubs
employed “scouts” to seek out
attractive female runaways.
After a few months of above-
board tasks, he claimed, the
women would be offered
up, sometimes dosed with
the date-rape drug GHB, to
wealthy guests.
“It’s a culture of sex traf-
ficking by elites,” Joo, who’s
since become a prominent
advocate for stricter enforce-
ment of sexual assault laws,
said in an interview. He
described Gangnam, where
K-pop idols and executives65Bloomberg Businessweek November 11, 2019PREVIOUS SPREAD: BRUNING SUN/FACEBOOK. THIS SPREAD: HAN MYUNG-GU/WIREIMAGE (2)
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