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BBC World Service dropped a documentary titled Burning Sun: Exposing the Secret K-pop Chat Groups on May 19, 2024. Acclaimed for its breaking stories, the British public service broadcaster exposé unearthed new information about the 2019 scandal and released the documentary on its official YouTube channel.
According to BBC, the late K-Pop icon Goo Hara was instrumental in exposing the illicit acts of celebrities in the 2019 Burning Sun controversy. This included disclosing individuals such as BIGBANG's Seungri, Jung Joon-young, and more. The BBC documentary centered on two female reporters who provided new information as they continued with their investigation for five years.
Disclaimer: The following article contains mentions of s*xual assault and suicide. Reader’s discretion is advised.
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The incident revealed that singer-entertainer, Jung Joon-young, reportedly set up a KakaoTalk chatroom by the name "Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms" in 2019. In this chatroom, group members like Seungri, Yong Jun-hyung, Lee Cheol-woo, and more shared illicit recorded s*x video of women without their consent, videos of women being s*xually assaulted, and more.
Looking back at the Burning Sun accused: The roles of individuals named in the chat room
1) Seungri — Former BIGBANG member
Seungri was the co-owner of the Burning Sun club and established it in February 2018. He was ultimately charged with several offenses, including dissemination of explicit images and videos obtained unlawfully, embezzlement, gambling, and illicit cash transactions.
As BBC reported, Seungri organized the major events and catered to wealthy clientele with the assistance of this group of friends. He was fined 1.15 billion won ($8,44,991) and given a three-year sentence in August 2021, which was reduced to 18 months. He was released from jail in February 2023.
2) Jung Joon-young — Singer and entertainer
Jung Joon-young reportedly created the incriminating KakaoTalk group chat where he spread unlawful photos and videos of women being assaulted while under the influence of r*pe drugs (GHB), alongside other members. KakaoTalk chats and videos from his phone revealed his crimes from 2015 to 2019.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, is an illegal drug and is referred to as a "date r*pe" medication. GHB is difficult to trace in the human body due to its chemical composition.
Jung Joon-young was charged with reportedly gang r*ping one of his fans and illegally recording several other victims. Some of the recordings were from 2015. He got a six-year jail term which was lowered to five years. Korea JoongAngDaily reported that he served time in prison from March 2019 until March 2024 when he was released.
3) Choi Jong Hoon — Former member of F.T. Island
Choi Jong-hoon was found to be a participant in a chatroom where he purportedly admitted his role in a 2016 drunk driving accident (DUI). Later, he admitted to the authorities that he had bribed them to hide the group's misdeeds. Furthermore, with the assistance of a police officer "Yoon," his DUI incident went unreported to the media.
Choi Jong-hoon was charged with gang r*ping, disseminating images and videos obtained unlawfully, recording illicit videos of female victims of s*xual assault, and violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of S*xual Crimes. According to Manila Bulletin, Choi Jong-hoon received a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence and was released in March 2024.
4) Yong Jun-hyung HIGHLIGHT
Amid rumors of his involvement in Jung's chatrooms, Billboard reported that Yong Jun-hyung of HIGHLIGHT announced his resignation from their music group on March 14, 2019 via Instagram. Later, Yong Jun-hyung admitted to the police that he had seen one of Jung's illicit s*x recordings and reportedly engaged in "inappropriate conversations", and was a member of the KakaoTalk chatroom.
He first vehemently denied any involvement, but once the chatroom's texts were made public, he changed his statement and confessed. Yong Jun-hyung further claimed to only be a bystander in the chatroom and had never personally recorded illicit videos of the victims.
5) Roy Kim
Singer Roy Kim was also a suspect in the Burning Sun investigation in 2019 due to allegations that he had distributed illicitly obtained videos. In April 2019, he confessed to sharing a photo that was obtained without permission back in 2016, but he denied filming s*x videos and taking pictures.
South Korean media outlet MBN reported in February 2020 that Roy Kim admitted sharing an illicit image with a chat group that also had Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon. However, the chatroom was a separate one (not the scandalous group) where they discussed their hobby of fishing.
The detail of the chatroom was confirmed by the singer's agency, Stone Music Entertainment. He said that all he did was see the picture online and wanted to let others know that it had been photoshopped.
In February 2020, MBN further reported that Roy Kim informed his fans via a letter that he was dismissed from his prosecution in connection with the dissemination of adult content and Burning Sun. He also stated that he "deeply reflected" on his actions. The singer returned to the music scene in 2020 and enlisted in the military to serve his mandatory period.
6) Lee Jong-hyun — Former CNBLUE member
Despite not having engaged in any illicit recording himself, Lee Jong-hyun was eventually found to be a participant in the group. According to Billboard, he had made remarks that were demeaning to women. Afterward, he acknowledged seeing illicit footage of women that had been obtained unlawfully.
After the Burning Sun incident, he removed his social media profiles and withdrew from the band, CNBLUE, in 2018.
7) Lee Cheol-woo
In 2019, there were rumors circulating about South Korean actor Lee Chul-woo being a part of the Burning Sun group chat room. As per Maeil Business, Lee Chul-woo's agency claimed at the time that he wasn't a part of the chatroom in question. When forensic investigation proved Lee Cheol Woo's presence in the chatroom, his name became involved in the controversy.
His agency reiterated that although he was a member of the chatroom prior to the crimes, he did not participate in any illegal activity. However, after the BBC documentary released in May 2024, netizens were alarmed to see him in the ongoing tvN popular drama, Lovely Runner.
8) Eddy Kim
In 2019, Eddy Kim admitted to sharing images that were unlawfully clicked during the Burning Sun probe. He was sent to the prosecution along with Roy Kim and Choi Jung-hoon for distributing illicit photographs of women without their consent.
In the group conversation, they confessed to exchanging pictures they had acquired from the internet, but they did not admit to taking pictures or filming illicit videos. According to Times Now, the prosecution considered the fact that Eddy Kim had only distributed adult material once, before suspending his indictment. He appeared to be profoundly regretful.
9) Kang In and Jung Jin-woon
Kang In was another member of the incriminating KakaoTalk group chat from the Burning Sun scandal. He refuted allegations of sharing illicit videos, s*xual assault, recording female victims, and more. Koreaboo reported that Kang In claimed to be part of the chatroom before the crimes were committed.
Jung Jin-woo was reportedly identified as an accomplice by the police to the crimes and scandal. However, he pleaded not guilty like Kang In. Not much information is available about these two individuals listed in the case.
BBC World Service documentary titled Burning Sun: Exposing the secret K-pop chat groups is available on the British news broadcaster's official YouTube channel.
