First of all, the people involved in the incident are currently being released from prison. However, Seungri, a former Big Bang member, travels to Southeast Asia every day to share his updates through parties and social media, and still acts in a mess rather than self-reflection. And in Gangnam, where there are many entertainment areas, many things are still happening every day. Then, I would like to look back on Burning Sun’s first incident.
At first, a public service worker named Kim Sang-kyo began as a simple assault by club security guards, but apart from this incident, other suspicious points were also spotted in Burning Sun itself, which had gradually emerged due to allegations of collusion between the club and the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul, drug use, and tax evasion. On February 26, 2019, the first explosion occurred due to allegations of high-ranking prostitution and sexual hospitality of Seungri, a former Big Bang man known as the real owner of Burning Sun. After the second explosion, it spread to the case of illegal production and distribution of filming by his close friend, drug restaurant Jung Joon-young (March 11, 2019), and seven celebrities were simultaneously retired, expelled, and booked. The case is a rare entertainment scandal in 2019, involving not only some police but also large entertainment management companies, and is eventually called Seungri Gate or Burning Sun Gate. Kim Sang-kyo was assaulted by Burning Sun employees and was widely reported in the news, with testimonies of victims of Mulppong sexual assault appearing on Instagram and social media to expose Burning Sun, but the number of victims of Mulppong drug sexual assault is unknown as it is anonymous and unclear whether he is a real victim. In fact, there was only one case of sexual violence in Burning Sun, so there was only one report of sexual assault. There was one case of sexual assault directly reported by a Thai man, and it was found that he brokered prostitution by using it to a prostitute woman in a VIP room or acting like he was drunk. Drugs and sex-related crimes in the Korean club scene (or club mediation) are known to be mainly committed by the U.S. Forces Korea and native English-speaking instructors in the third grade, but they have become the biggest issue of sex and drug crimes in clubs led by Koreans (celebrities, not criminals). And although he wanted to fall into a lull over time, iKON’s B.I. in the same agency suffered a drug scandal, and public opinion and public power continued to look at Yang Hyun-suk himself. Even suspicions about the Blue House investigation, which will be described later, and the fight for the country in the second half of the year, a big issue in the political world, have been ignited as a “Burning Sun incident.” What is the reality like, whether it was a proper move after causing such a huge incident?
JULE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL