Reexamination of the "Burning Sun Gate" by BBC Sparks Controversy
The reexamination of the "Burning Sun Gate" by the British BBC News has caused a significant backlash.
Lee Chul-woo, from "Lovely Runner," has once again denied allegations of involvement in Jung Joon-young's chatroom scandal, while Yong Jun-hyung and his girlfriend HyunA are also under scrutiny.
On the 19th (local time), BBC News released a documentary titled "Burning Sun: Exposing the Secret K-pop Chat Groups" on their Korean YouTube channel. This video, also available with English subtitles under the title "Burning Sun: Exposing the Secret K-pop Chat Groups," has been shared on their main YouTube channel, which boasts 16 million subscribers.
The documentary revisits the 2019 "Burning Sun Gate," which shocked South Korea.
The scandal involved notable stars such as BIGBANG's Seungri, singer Jung Joon-young, and FT Island's leader Choi Jong-hoon.
It was revealed that the club Burning Sun, operated by Seungri, was a hotbed of crimes including drug use, sexual assault, police collusion, tax evasion, and violence. The infamous "Jung Joon-young chatroom" was a space where illegal recordings and discussions of collective sexual assaults were shared.
With the renewed attention, former model and actor Lee Chul-woo has been dragged into the spotlight.
Currently starring in tvN's drama "Lovely Runner," he reiterated his denial of any involvement. Back in 2019, his agency clarified that he was not part of the problematic chatroom and had never been contacted by authorities regarding the issue. He was only in a chatroom for scheduling purposes during the filming of JTBC's "Hitmaker" in 2016, which was deleted after the program ended.
Despite this, Lee Chul-woo took to Instagram on the 20th to deny the allegations once more.
He stated, "I was not part of the mentioned chatroom. The chatroom I was in during the 2016 JTBC 'Hitmaker' shoot was for scheduling purposes only and was deleted after the program ended."
He further expressed that the continued spread of false information and malicious comments have caused pain not only to him but also to his family and acquaintances. He vowed to take strong action against such defamatory remarks and false information in the future.
In contrast, Yong Jun-hyung admitted in 2019 that he had viewed an illegal video shared by Jung Joon-young in a one-on-one chat.
He publicly apologized and eventually left the group Highlight (formerly BEAST) in disgrace after being questioned as a witness.
Currently, both Yong Jun-hyung and his girlfriend HyunA's social media accounts are being bombarded with negative comments. International netizens have criticized HyunA for dating Yong Jun-hyung despite his involvement in the scandal, expressing disbelief and urging her to reconsider the relationship.
Yong Jun-hyung's account has also been flooded with critical comments, questioning how he could not feel ashamed of his past actions and why he is still free despite his involvement.
