K-Pop Stars Opened a Night Club to Drug & Sell Women to Overseas Investors

In 2016 in South Korea, a woman walks. into the police station to report that. her ex-boyfriend had taken explicit. photos of her without her consent. She. wants to file a formal police report. The ex-boyfriend then gets called into. the police station where he says he's. more than willing to do anything that he. possibly can to show that he is innocent. of what he is being accused of. But, the problem is.

it's broken. The police were like, "What. do you mean it's broken?". His phone was conveniently broken. But, the police they're thinking, "We can't. just tuck away the case and call it a. good day. We're going to have the man. send his phone in to a data forensics. company, the same one that recovered all. the data from the cyber fairy victims'. phones, and have an IT specialist look. at it to see if they can recover any. data.". So, an IT specialist takes it in and for. his privacy we will refer to him as. Park. Park gets assigned assigned this.

man's phone and he's trying to work on. recovering any and all the data from the. device and he's really good at his job. He recovers almost everything. Over. 200,000 text messages, group chats. 200,000 text messages? Yeah. 200,000 individual text messages. Wow, okay. Videos, photos, I mean. anything that could be recovered, he's. recovered it. But, suddenly the police. call the IT guy and tells him, "We don't. need your services anymore. I mean, you.

can just stop what you're doing and give. the phone back to the man who brought it. to you." They explain very briefly the. girlfriend has since dropped the. criminal case. She's retracted her. statements and said that she lashed out. at her ex out of anger and that there. were no photos. So, the investigation is. over. Wait, so did the police look at the text. messages? No, they didn't look at anything. They're like, "Just turn it in. We don't. even want to look at it. We don't even. want to bother ourselves with this.". Mhm. But for the tech employee, Park, it felt.

like the investigation was just getting. started. While he had been retrieving all the. lost data from the man's phone, he. couldn't help but peek, you know? I. mean, could you really call it peeking? He has to verify that the data is being. recovered, and how can you do that. without even glancing at said data? And. what he saw were images of women. unconscious, naked, videos of. unconscious women being essayed, women. being. drugged and abused. In group chats, there were prices under these women, the.

cost of how much it would be to essay. them yourself. Menus, literal catalogs of women for. sale, messages that depicted people. discussing the quote sale of these. women. They would read like, "Number one. doesn't talk that much and kind of loves. money. She also has aspects where she. doesn't have much charisma in drinking. scenes, but her visuals are great.". "Number three, good visuals, she's. bright, she's fun while drinking, but. the negative aspect is she gets a little. messy when she's drunk. But still, lot.

of charisma." The receiving end text. back, "Then let's go with number five. along with number three.". Girls were just being sold to the. highest bidder. Messages showed people. sharing videos of unconscious women. drugged, dragged, and essayed. The. receiving parties of these messages, they reacted to the videos as if they. were watching a funny Tik Tok, something. entertaining, not a literal crime. They would text things like, "I fed her. sleeping pills and assaulted her in the.

back, then in the front, then in the. back again, and then I finished.". People were responding, "Ha ha ha ha. ha.". Redacted, insert person's name, ate him. Some other people commented, "The mouth. on her is great.". Another chat log showed a picture of a. sleeping woman, and the friends. responded, "Who is it? Her body is so. freaking good.". Another chat included a video of an. unconscious woman being essayed with the. text, "Who wants to watch explicit. videos tonight?".

The friends responded, "What's this? Is. she unconscious?". The sender responds, "And if she is?". Send a video with an alive girl. "It's because she's unconscious, I can. take these high-quality videos with. flash.". Someone else in the group chat responds, "You her. Hehe.". In another text they write, "She doesn't. even remember who she did it with.". implying that the drugs they fed the. victim altered her memory. But someone else responds into the chat, "No, she's just an R-word.".

As Park is reading some of these. messages and glimpsing at some of these. pictures, he is realizing that there are. literal crimes being committed in these. group chats. Women are being drugged and. essayed. He needs to alert the. authorities about it. This feels like a. shady crime syndicate out there running. some sort of brothel out of their. basement. He opens the group chat in. full to see what other crimes they had. committed, and he was shocked to see. that he recognized every single contact. name in there. The phone belonged to a.

famous Korean idol by the name of Jung. Joon-young or JJY. He was the lead of a band called JJY. band. Another idol from FT Island named Choi. Jong-hoon, Lee Jong-hyun, lead vocalist. and guitarist of CNBLUE, and the biggest. name of all was Lee Seung-hyun. from the global group Big Bang. And these messages, they revealed a. complex trafficking ring operated by.

some of the biggest names in the Korean. entertainment industry. The chat logs were between some of the. most well-known, beloved celebrities in. the industry. The wholesome kind of. idols. Like the ones that girls would. look at and show their boyfriends and. say, "He would never do this.". In another group chat, the idols joke. about how five of them gang essayed a. drugged woman the night before a fan. sign event. There was another shocking video of a. woman being dragged out of a club owned.

by Seungri by her hair by a man who is. about to do God knows what to her and. she's trying to desperately get the club. employees attention by smacking down. their laptop screens as she's getting. dragged out by her hair. Employees don't even look. They act like. nothing is happening. The video is spread through the group. chat and so was another one. Well, it's. a text message and this is the reason. why the employee of the data forensic. company could never go to the police. with these messages. A text read, "I saw the messages between.

the young and the police chief. They. found out who snitched.". Even high-up police commissioners were. exposed to be VIP clients of this. trafficking ring. Park had just uncovered a trafficking. ring run by celebrities, police. officials, and there was nobody that. could help him. There was nobody that. could save the victims because everyone. at the top was dirty. But, Park would secretly make a copy of. every single text message and 3 years.

later, it would be released onto the. internet exposing one of the most. shocking Korean cases to date, the. Burning Sun case.

We would like to thank today's sponsors. who have made it possible for Rotten. Mango to support the Joyful Heart. Foundation whose mission is to transform. society's response to sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and they. really aim to support survivors through. their healing and reclaiming of their. lives through things like education, advocacy, and policy change. This. episode's partnerships have also made it. possible to support Rotten Mango's. growing team of dedicated researchers.

and translators. I mean, they really put. their all into these cases. They focus. on shedding light on stories from all. over the world, and we would also like. to thank you guys for your continued. support as we work on our mission to be. worthy advocates for these causes. And as always, full show notes are. available at rottenmangopodcast.com. Now, Burning Sun is a case that we're. revisiting from long, long ago because. it's resurfacing in the news. There was. a recent scandal that we'll get into,

and additionally, because I feel like. our quality of research has drastically. improved. So, truly, this is going to be. a deep, deep dive onto the horrors of. this case because it's a lot. We had. multiple translators, researchers help. assist with this one. There was one RM. meeting where we had like seven people. in three different time zones just on a. call for hours trying to get through. everything again. We're like going. through it three times, four times just. to make sure everything is good. But as.

always, if there's anything we've missed. or anything that was lost in translation. or wasn't properly clarified, please let. us know in the comments. And with that. being said, let's get started. This case took place. in Korea around 2018, but it's back in. the news cycle for a lot of K-netizens. because of a new picture that was posted. to Instagram. Well, two pictures. We'll. call them picture A and picture B. If. you're listening to the audio version of. this podcast, I'm going to describe both. pictures to you. Picture A shows a. beautiful private swimming pool from a.

resort in Bali. It seems like one of. those villas that you can rent, and. someone took a picture of the private. pool in the back. The water in the pool. is turquoise blue. There's beautiful. palm trees, banana leaf trees. surrounding the pool. There's this beige. cushioned lounge chair next to the pool. that you can lay down in and sit in the. sun. It's beautiful. It looks expensive, which makes it a very typical picture to. post on Instagram. Picture B is almost an exact copy of.

picture A. But, it's not a repost. It's not like. someone stole picture A and pretended, "I'm in Bali, too." It's a completely. new photo. It shows more of the villa. than the pool from picture A, but you. can tell it's the same exact place. Two. pictures in the same villa in Bali. So, what's the big problem here? It's a. resort in Bali. Of course, there's going. to be lots of people from all over the. world staying there and taking pictures. Picture A was posted by girl A, since.

they want to remain anonymous in the. news. Picture B was posted by girl B. The problem here was they ran in the. same circles where it was discovered. that they were both dating the same man. Former K-pop star, former inmate, and. owner of the nightclub Burning Sun, Lee. Seung-hyun. And, I'm going to be brief. with the scandal that unfolds because. there's not too much to it, but Lee. Seung-hyun was cheating on multiple. women and taking them on back-to-back. trips with the same exact itinerary. So, he would ask girl A, who thinks she's in.

a monogamous relationship with him, to. fly out to Bali to see him. He would. rent a villa, take her to very specific. restaurants and dates, and after 5 days, she would fly back to Korea. And, that. same day that she leaves Bali, girl B, who also believes that she's in a. monogamous relationship with him, would. fly into Bali to see him. She would stay in the exact same villa. girl A had just left from. I mean, it's likely that girl A's. perfume scent is still in the villa at.

this point. And, he would take girl B on. the same exact dates that he had just. taken girl A. Everything is identical. He had planned the exact same trip for. both girls, took them to the same. restaurants, the same beaches, the same. hotels, the same cafes. He didn't even. wait 48 hours before both trips. It was. back-to-back. Girl A flies into Bali, girl A flies out of Bali, girl B flies. into Bali, girl B flies out of Bali. And all of this was, {quote} {unquote}, exposed when both girls discovered that.

they had posted the exact same picture. of the villa, and they started texting. each other about their Bali trips. The story was sold to Dispatch, and some. netizens commented on the scandal. I. hope the girls don't think that it's. just girl A through B. Seungri probably. has woman A through Z. I thought he was in jail. That's what a lot of people were also. saying. Like, what what's going on? Why. are we writing these random cheating. articles about a literal criminal? So, he's in jail or no? He's free.

He's free? What What was he in jail? He was in jail for 1.5 years. He was only in there for 1 and 1/2. years. And now he's back to dating. Yes. people already? Back to, yeah, being involved with. women. Wow. A lot of the comments had the same. reaction as you. I mean, they were just. shocked. They were shocked that he was. in the news. They were shocked that he. was out of prison. They were shocked. that girls would even go out with him. That they would travel all the way to. Bali to be with him in the first place. when his club, Burning Sun, was for.

basically having a trafficking ring. operating during club hours. Yeah, how is he only a year and a half? That's insane for the level of crime he. committed. A lot of people actually. speculate that this is Seungri trying to. get back into the industry. It sounds. counterproductive because why would a. cheating scandal be good for him? But, to have these mini scandals that sound. like celebrity scandals are probably. better than having Burning Sun as the. last scandal. And God forbid he's trying to make a.

comeback. Like I'm not even sure how. that's possible, but just in case that's. his end goal, let us all refresh our memories of the. case of the Burning Sun. What was later dubbed the VIP company. A young woman named Min-jung woke up in. a bed and her eyes still felt really out. of focus. That's how she describes this. whole feeling is her eyes feel out of. focus. She tries turning her head to see. where she is and she doesn't recognize. the room that she's in. She doesn't even.

remember how she got into this room to. begin with. In fact, she doesn't. remember much or really anything at all. for the past few hours. She keeps. blinking and trying to reach for any. memory of even the last hour. There's. literally nothing in there. And then a man walks into the room. She remembers him. But before she can. act, he's on the bed holding her down. strangling her. She's kicking, biting. him, trying to push him off of her, but. he's way too strong. He's simultaneously.

strangling her with one hand and using. the other hand to cover her mouth. He's using his body weight to push down. on her body. She felt like she was going. to die. Every time she tried to get up, he pushed her harder down into the bed. Her neck is bent against the headboard. at a dangerous, painful angle and she. would later say, "I felt like I was. going to die." She could not get this. man off of her. He would proceed to rip off her clothes. and essay her. Each time he pushed her, she could feel.

her neck bending more and more against. the headboard. She said she felt like. her neck was going to snap. After this brutal assault, she grabs the. mini trash can by the bed and she throws. up everything that she has in her. system. The throw up was this dark brown color. It was blood. She said at this point she. really, really, really felt like she was. going to die because earlier the focus. had been trying to get him off of her. But now, now that he's off of her, she. doesn't really know what his plans are.

Min-young likely ran through all of the. options in her mind. She clearly could. not fight him off physically. So, she. said she got on her knees on the. carpeted floor and begged for her life. She was trying to appeal to any sort of. humanity or even empathy if he had any. really. She cried that she just wanted. to go home. She would never go to the. police about this. Oh my god. She just. wanted to see her mom. That's all. She. just wanted to see her mom. She finally looks up at the man, this. kidnapper, this rapist, and he just.

starts laughing. He's giggling. at her begging for her life. And he responds, "If you take a selfie with me, I'll let. you go home.". What? What? Like evidence? He takes out his phone, turns on the front camera, grabs. Min-young, and basically forces her to. sit on him. "Okay, now smile.". Min-young doesn't really know what to. make of this. Is he playing a game right. now? Like why would he want to take a. picture with her? Was he really going to.

let her go? She said that she squeezed. out a small smile and the man kept his. promise. He threw her clothes at her. face and pushed her out of the room. She. booked it. She didn't even wait to put. on her clothes. She just ran down the. hallway of this hotel building, out the. main door, into the middle of winter in. South Korea. Middle of the night. Pitch. black. It's snowing. She's half. barefoot, but she doesn't feel any of. that. She's running towards the main. road with her shoes and her pants in her.

hand, and this other hand is stretched. out trying to flag down the closest. taxi. She wants to get out of here and. as far away from that man as possible. because who knows what if he comes back? What if he changes his mind? Thankfully, a taxi stops and she gets. in. Frantically, she gives her address, and when she sees the hotel disappear. from sight, the fight or flight that had. kicked in, it probably finally calmed. down because she looks down and realizes. she's still naked. from the waist down. And there was a taxi driver.

looking at her in the rearview mirror. I. mean, of course, we don't know why this. man was looking at her. It could be that. she's naked from the waist down and he's. like, "Why is she naked?" We don't know. if she he had any sinister intentions. I. don't think so. But she put her clothes. over her lap trying to draw the least. amount of attention on herself from the. taxi driver. She tries to take inventory of. everything she has. She notices she. doesn't have her phone, credit card, or. her winter jacket. I mean, it's bad, but. what's worse is that she's missing hours.

in her memory. She has no idea how she. got to that hotel with the man that she. was there with. After getting home, Min-jun gathers herself as best as she. can and goes to the police station. She. reports the physical and sexual abuse. and shows them all of the cuts and. bruises on her body. She said she wanted a drug. test. She knew that she had been I mean, this had never happened before. Her. memory had always been fine, but now she. conveniently has a gap in her memory and. ends up at a hotel with a man that. viciously essayed her. No, she was This.

isn't right. She demands a drug test and. she knows that this is not only going to. prove that he essayed her, but he. drugged her in order to do it. This was. going to convict him. It was going to. get her justice, put that sick man. behind bars so that he could never do it. again. Being assaulting woman, making. them beg for their lives before throwing. them out in the onto the street. I mean, it was despicable. She's going to make. sure that he gets put away for a long. time. The drug test comes back. There are no drugs in her system. What?

That doesn't make any sense. And I'm sure she could tell that the. police were looking at her like she had. lost her mind. She said the police. started treating her like she was a. liar, like she was a criminal. As if. she's just making up lies to get back at. a man that she slept with. And she's wondering, why would I do. that? I mean, women don't get anything. good out of being a victim of a crime, especially in a place like South Korea. where female victims are constantly. shamed. Why would she make up this kind. of lie? Because the man is Chavano's Ratikul.

Let's call him Chav. He is a wealthy. nepo baby of influential Thai. politicians and he is considered a young. businessman. But he's honestly just a nepo baby. The police were asking Min-young with. these very patronizing looks on their. faces, as if they had just caught a kid. in a lie. We have. the police knew it was him? Yeah. What? She was like, I know this man. Let me. give you the name of this man. I. remember this man. They're like, are you sure it was really.

I mean, we heard from witnesses that saw. you guys at a club together and said. that you guys were very close. And he is. from a wealthy family. Are you sure that. you weren't just interested in him? And. maybe you went back to the hotel with. him, did something that you're not very. proud of. Min-young felt like the police aren't. even doing a thorough investigation. They just saw a negative test, rich man. being accused of. must be some sort of gold-digging scheme. to get money out of the guy. Min-young is like, yeah, no. That.

doesn't make any sense. Do you have CCTV. footage of the hotel reception? Because. I, in the hotel lobby, I can assure you. I did not walk in there willingly. Technically, even if she did willingly. walk into the hotel with this man, I. don't think that means she wasn't. assaulted. I just want to put that. disclaimer out there. But she's trying. to prove something, anything to the. police so that they take her seriously, which, you know, they really should have. done in the first place, but regardless, they pull the CCTV footage and Min-young. is floored.

It doesn't make any sense. She sees. herself walking into the hotel with the. man willingly. He's not dragging her. She doesn't even appear to be. She's walking normally, stable. She's. walking at a leisurely pace. If. anything, she's almost leading the man. She's walking in front of the guy. She's having an animated conversation. with him. She's seen on CCTV camera of. the hotel lobby smiling at the man. How is this possible? Chav is Thai, but since he's the son of.

influential politicians, he's a. celebrity back at home. The allegations. followed him all the way from South. Korea to Thailand. He did some news. interviews where he completely denied it. all. I mean, as expected. But he even. reported feeling sad. Yeah, he said, "I. feel very unlucky to have been swept. into a case like this. I'm innocent and. I feel that this is all very unfair.". And as a way of proving his innocence, the news channels played the CCTV. footage of the two of them walking into.

the hotel. He said, "When I was going. into the hotel, she followed me. She was. 100% conscious. The CCTV shows it all. I. didn't use any force or put her over my. shoulder or carry her in.". Min-jung felt like she was going crazy. She was being framed as this liar, accuser, manipulator, gold digger. I.

mean, they used a lot of eloquent words. in the media news outlets, but they. basically said she found out that he was. rich, seduced him, took a picture with. him because she was having fun, and now. she's turned around and cried rape. because she wants his money. So, the photo was released. Yeah. And that became like something that Oh, wow. Chav is like, "Look, we had a good time. She's smiling. Does that look like. someone who's fearing for her life?". Wow. Min-jung knew that she would never, in a.

million years, lie about something like. this. And you know what? There was something. odd about the CCTV footage. Sure, at first it seems like she's happy. to be there, but she has zero memory of. it. And second of all, it's -8° outside. in South Korea. Where is her jacket? She remembers wearing a puffer jacket. that night, but she's not wearing it in. the hotel footage. So, what is she wearing? Like thin light. sweater. Okay, like wait, your way but sweater.

It's just very strange. She's an adult. No one just leaves their jacket out of. the Even if you feel hot, you carry your. jacket. Yeah. Where is her jacket? It. just isn't something that she would do. So, she keeps trying to piece together. the events of that night, and it feels. like there are just holes in her memory. as if someone had taken a scalpel and. carved out a section of her memory, clean precision. She does remember. though hours long before the hotel. She. was getting dressed up to go with her.

friends to the Burning Sun Club. None of. them were really club goers like that, but they just wanted to see what the. hype was about. And it really did live. up to its reputation. They walk in, and. the club is packed. Everybody's letting. loose, enjoying themselves. It wasn't. one of those like stuffy stuck up. environments where everybody is eyeing. each other up and down. The music is. good. I mean, it's loud, but it's very. good. Everybody's dancing. It's a nice. break from the work and the school. She. remembered it was It was fun. She. remembered her friends had all purchased.

a table. They sat down, and she offers, "Hey, I'm going to go to the bar and get. us all some drinks.". At the bar, she felt this gentle tap on. her shoulder. Turns around, and it's a man. Now, to give you further context, the. Burning Sun is kind of known to be a. Wattpad club. Yeah, kind of, right? In the sense that. there were some anecdotal reports that. women would go to the Burning Sun, run. into wealthy young attractive foreign. businessmen, and start dating them. Which is just like an innocent, cute. Wattpad dream. It kind of implied that.

most men at the Burning Sun are. well-connected, high-powered, high-net-worth individuals that are also. kind of attractive. So, it's likely. Min-jung was like, "Oh my god, this is. kind of funny. It's like my own little. Wattpad moment, right?" The man is tall, handsome, but more importantly, he was a. gentleman. He kept a respectful. distance, kept his eyes on her face, not. her body, didn't even try to touch her. waist, touch her arm while he laughs, none of that. No physical contact. He's.

kind, talkative, respectful. In this. loud, busy club with people actually. dancing on each other, this tall, handsome guy is asking her about her. pets and hobbies. He's very nice. She even joined him in. his VIP room later to talk about all. these mundane things, and it was kind of. cute and wholesome. Min-jung's having. fun, but at the end of the day, she is. still a girl at a club, and that is. something that you never really forget. So, when he offers her champagne and. whiskey, she's like, "Oh, I don't really.

drink champagne, but I'll take some. whiskey.". She takes three shots of whiskey that. night. I'm not a big drinker, so to me, I have no idea how much that is, but. apparently, it's not much at all, especially if you know your limits, which Min-jung did. She knew that three. shots of whiskey would not even make her. tipsy. Maybe on an empty stomach, but. she ate dinner before she came. I mean, it was just it was nothing. And she didn't even take the shots. back-to-back. She's not slamming it. down. She's careful. She spaces them. out, drinking water in between. She even. told the guy straight-up, "Hey, I'm not.

really fond of being drunk, so I'm just. going to take it easy tonight." He was. so nice about it. He kept pouring her. glasses of water and sliding it in front. of her. "Here, drink the water since you don't. want to get drunk. It helps." She. thanked him, and they continued on with. their conversation. until she felt this out-of-body, almost a floating sensation. Mid conversation, her eyes go fuzzy. She. was trying to be polite and focus on. what this man is saying, but it's like. her eyes were out of focus camera.

lenses. She tries wiping her eyes discreetly, blinking, but even her brain starts to. feel fuzzy. It feels like she had been. drinking heavily all night long, but. that doesn't make any sense because she. had been so careful not to get drunk. She had even been taking. just glasses of water in between her. shots of whiskey. She tries to rub her eyes again, but she. said that her hands were not coming up. to her face now. She tries to move even just one finger. Nothing's moving. It's kind of like sleep paralysis where.

you can't even move though you try. really, really hard. And even with. something like sleep paralysis, there's. this strong level of panic associated. with that feeling of not having control. over your body. But imagine that. experience at a club with a bunch of. strangers. I'm sure it's a different. level of confusion, stress, anxiety, panic. Her body was no longer responding to her. brain. The man that she had been talking to. still going on and on about how he had a. flight scheduled tomorrow to go back to. Thailand, and he's just fading into this.

big blur. And she heard his voice. through it all, and it felt like she was. listening from a completely different. dimension. It sounded very distorted. She heard him say, "So, you have to make. me happy today." And that's it. She. doesn't remember anything else after. that. Just waking up in that bed to be. assaulted. She knew she wasn't going. crazy even though everyone, including. the police, are trying to convince her. that she's going crazy. She's thinking, "I must have been drugged." And she had. a sneaking suspicion that something was.

in the water at Burning Sun. And water. is a big business at Burning Sun. The. employees of Burning Sun are. incentivized to bring VIPs water, to. procure good water, and protect the VIPs. water, and deliver good water to the VIP. tables and rooms. If the employees were. capable of doing that, some of them. would make close to $8,000 in a single. night from tips from VIPs. Woah. All. from the big shot foreign VIP clients. that are really, really happy about.

water. The employees of the club would work. together as a team to make sure VIP. customers got their water. They would. even have group chats in real time while. they're working about how things were. going, how the VIPs were looking for. water, how they are enjoying their. water, who needs more water. They would. text things like, "The VIP in the room. is looking for good water tonight.". "Okay, I'm looking for good water.". "Hurry, he's pestering me for water. He's very thirsty. He said it doesn't. even need to be good water anymore. Just.

someone get him some water.". His fellow co-worker responds, "I'll get. him a side dish then." It's a little. confusing. In another chat, an employee texts the. other employees, "Someone is approaching. the water I secured for a VIP. Bouncer, hurry up and go protect my water." He. gets a response from the bouncer, [music]. "On it.". The bouncer pushes through the crowd. towards the bar. Scanning the area, he. spots the water that the employee is. talking about. A man. is with the water. So, he approaches. this man, tells him to get lost, and.

he's standing there awkwardly with the. water. But, it's not what you imagine. It's not. a cup of water, it's not a bottle of. water, it's a woman. She's very pretty. She would make the VIPs very happy. Employees at the Burning Sun have their. own vocabulary when they were working. When they say water, they were never. talking about real water. They were. talking about women. Female club goers, that's what they call them. Not humans, not people, not women, water.

So, in Korean, like mul. Mul. Yeah. It's like a phrase that you would. use. If you go outside and you see a ton. of pretty people that day, you might say. something along the lines of, "Wow, why. is the water so fresh today?" That's a. way of saying, wow, everyone is so. attractive today because the slang is. the water is fresh means the fish in the. water is fresh and tasty. Water can. refer to all genders when it's used in. this phrase. Like when people say the water is fresh, it's not just referring to women. It. could mean oh, the guys are attractive. like everybody's attractive.

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But, at the Burning Sun, water refers to. women. Good water refers to very pretty. women. And averagely okay women are just. side dishes. They are not the main. course. The goal for the employees at. the Burning Sun is to survey the women. coming into the club, pick the prettiest. ones that would please the VIPs, get. them drunk them before the VIPs get. there so they can deliver them to the. VIP. The goal would be she is beautiful,

she is beyond the point of consent, the. VIP is happy. Because now the VIP. doesn't have to waste his time getting. her drunk so that he can essay her. He. can just go ahead and do whatever he. wants to her illegally. VIP is happy, the employees get a big tip. That is the. ultimate goal of the employees at. Burning Sun, and nothing makes them. happier than watching the little essay. of a young woman. They would text videos into their group. chat of VIPs are wording unconscious.

women. They would text things like, "Look at. the VIP room right now, they're doing. it." They'd text back, "Wow, it's true.". From Burning Sun to Hong Kong to go to. Hong Kong means reaching the height. during intimate activities. So, if a. weird Korean guy asks if you want to go. to Hong Kong tonight, he's not asking. you to catch a flight with him for a. spontaneous trip. He's asking you for. something. And employees of the Burning Sun knew. VIPs were more likely to tip them and. come back if they were going to Hong. Kong. But, very few girls ever got drunk.

at a club to the point of not being. aware of their surroundings or passing. out. Or at least you don't do that. without having friends that you can. trust to not let you out of their sight. I feel like most girls know how. dangerous that is. So, it's up to the. employees to get girls into that state. quickly and discreetly. Their solution. was dates. They, employees, sometimes even. bartenders would date the own their own. female customers, which, you know, a few. things about this are so terrifying. How.

easy it is to spike someone's drink, terrifying. But, also I imagine if I. went to a club, I might be cautious of. strange men around me, but I don't think. I would ever be really cautious that the. bartender would spike my drink. hell? Or that the employees would. Especially Burning Sun, one of the most. like famous club. High-end. Most high-end club, like Yeah. What? The employees would date their own. female customers to serve them on a. silver platter for higher-paying male. VIP customers who came to essay the.

female customers. They woman essayed. them, took pictures and videos of the. assaults, created a product catalog of. the victims to see if other VIPs wanted. to pay to essay these victims as well. That was the real business model of. Burning Sun. They were, in theory, running a complicated. trafficking ring, and they got away with. it for a very long time. Not because. they're flying under the radar and never.

getting called out on it. It's because. they were being so blatant about it. There is a saying, I believe in German, and it's translated into English as, "The devil was covering it with its own. tail." And it's in reference to. something being so out in the open, it's. basically right under your nose, but you. miss it because the devil has just. barely hid it out of plain view. Like hiding in plain sight. Mhm. The Burning Sun's reputation was. the tail. And if anyone heard any. strange. questionable stories coming out of the.

Burning Sun, first they would question. if the storytellers were even sober. enough to remember the events correctly. And if the answer was yes, they would. all just kind of shrug and say something. along the lines of, "That's just what happens at the Burning. Sun." The club was owned by a well-known. Korean celebrity and a bunch of. investors. And the sentiment for a lot. of Koreans at the time was, "What else. do you expect to happen at a place like. the Burning Sun?". It doesn't have a wholesome reputation. The club was co-founded by Lee. Seung-hyun, who is known as the Great.

Gatsby of South Korea. And not because. he's a fan of literature and that's his. favorite book, but because he throws. insane lavish parties. I'm talking a. whole line of bottle girls coming out in. line holding $1,000 bottles of champagne. in each hand with insane sparklers. shooting out of them. And it's not just. one or two bottle girls, it's like a. whole parade of them. Stacked champagne. glasses ready to be filled, Pretty Woman. everywhere. Uniformed girls in white and. gold sparkly dresses popping $10,000.

bottles, $50,000 bottles. It was crazy. This is. the same guy, Seung-hyun, where for his. own birthday, he had booked out a full. luxury resort in the Philippines so that. nobody else could stay there. Flew 150. of his closest celebrity, nepo baby, politician children friends from all. over East Asia, not just South Korea, but China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, everywhere. To the resort, flew. them out in the Philippines to party for.

4 days and 3 nights straight. These are not people that sit in. economy. He's booking first-class. tickets for all of them. That's crazy. He spent $20,000, $20,000 on just. fireworks for his birthday countdown, which is like really a crazy thing to. do. And the whole weekend ended up being. around $444,000. That's crazy cuz his image is like the. opposite of this in the band, Big Bang. This is a guy willing to drop hundreds. of thousands, if not like half a million.

dollars, on his birthday party. And he. started as this humble, insecure boy. We're going to get into all of it. You. know, this became the appeal of Burning. Sun. The general population of Korea had. started to hear about Seungri's parties, started to hear about the new Great. Gatsby of South Korea, and they wanted. to go to one of Gatsby's insane parties. But back before Seungri opened Burning. Sun, there's no way. How do you get on a. celebrity's guest list? But now with Burning Sun, the club, they.

can experience it firsthand. So yeah, chaos is expected. People would say, "Did you hear about. that underage girl?". What? The underage girl that stole her. mom's credit card and spent it all at. Burning Sun. Apparently, the mom found. out, rushed to Burning Sun, the bouncers. called the cops on the mom. Mom gets. handcuffed, dragged away. But the crazy thing is, there's. speculations that it wasn't just a girl. with a fake ID who wanted to party, that. maybe Burning Sun was trying to target.

underage girls to come to the club. Wow. Nah, I don't know how true that is. That's just what happens at the Burning. Sun. These are the reactions people. would get. There was another report of a couple. that went to the Burning Sun, and the. girlfriend had, you know, she felt. comfortable. She was going to this wild, crazy club, but she was going with her. boyfriend. So if anybody approached her, she would just say, "Oh, I have a. boyfriend, and he's right there." Or if. she was scared, she could just ask the. boyfriend, "Hey, can you just take me. home? I don't really feel safe." That.

night at the Burning Sun, her own. boyfriend her with date drugs at the. club, then assaulted her at a hotel, and. filmed it without her consent. That's true or True. She filed a police report against him. Wow. claimed, "My girlfriend consented to it. all. We're dating. Of course she. consented. She wanted it.". She said when you're on GHB, the date. drug, it feels like you're in a trance. You just do whatever you're told to do. and you kind of hear things, but then.

you have no recollection of anything. once you truly wake up and snap out of. it. You feel like a zombie that you can. take orders, but you don't remember any. of that. But it's just what happens at the. Burning Sun, right? How can they control what kind of. boyfriends come in with what kind of. intentions? Then another story came out. A witness, Miss K, stated that she was. with this guy that she had met at. Burning Sun and he's like, "Hey, do you. want to come up to my hotel room. upstairs?" cuz the Burning Sun is. attached to a hotel. She accepted. She said that she was just. going to go up there to have a drink.

with him. But as soon as he opens the. door to the hotel room, she sees. something very, very alarming. A woman. is laying unconscious on the couch and a. man is shoving his face in her chest and. climbing on top of her. He gets off immediately like he had just. been caught doing something. He's. friends with the guy that she walked in. with. So I guess they're sharing this. room or something. And he just starts. laughing and he's like, "Oh yeah, like, you know, this is my girlfriend and. she's super drunk right now." But that's. not what it felt like. The girl didn't. just look super drunk and something.

about the whole vibe, it didn't seem. like his girlfriend either. She called the police, but they. responded super nonchalantly about it. saying, "Well, technically no crime. really happened, did it?" So once again, some people, including the police, were. just saying "Ugh, it's just what happens. at the Burning Sun.". Another story was of a girl named Sarah. Well, let's call her Sarah. Sarah said. that she didn't really know too much. about the Burning Sun other than the. fact that her friends would go to the. club and come back with these crazy. stories of how they felt so extroverted.

and crazy and it was a blast and how fun. it was. And she's thinking, "Wow, this. is kind of this is insane. My friends. are normally insane introverts that hate. leaving the house and this club is. bringing them out of their shells. Naturally, she's curious. She gets connected to a friend of a. friend named Anna, who said that she had. been a big party goer, and they formed. this friendship. Anna offers to take. Sarah to the Burning Sun since she had. been there before, and Sarah has no clue. that Anna didn't just go to the Burning.

Sun a few times. Anna worked at the. Burning Sun as a runner. Once they get to the club, Anna gives. Sarah a pill and encourages her to take. it. It was ketamine, which is known to. sedate, incapacitate, and cause. short-term memory loss in people. It can. also be used as a date. Which an employee of a business. befriending a young woman, lying about. her affiliation with said business, and. supplying the young girl with at said. business, that sounds like it's been.

ripped out of some sort of trafficking. handbook. But again, people were like, uh. We don't really know the relationship. between Sarah and Anna. And let's say an employee did that, she. could have just been a weird employee. that does drugs. It's not representative. of the club. And it's just what happens at the. Burning Sun. There were other rumors. that Burning Sun employees had. undercover doctors to be around just in. case a VIP or someone in the club. overdosed on. so that these doctors would be available.

to try and resuscitate so that no one. would get busted for. This is a very speculative rumor, so. take it with a grain of salt, but later. with everything that comes out, it's not. completely unbelievable. All in all, all these people that were coming out. with their stories of the Burning Sun, they're getting brushed off. So of course, if the police, if their. closest friends and family don't really. take them seriously, why would they go. to a bigger audience. and tell the world, "Hey, something. weird is happening at the Burning Sun.".

It almost became normalized for alarming. stories to come out, and people would. just laugh it off and say, "Ah, Burning Sun is crazy.". So, let's talk about the business model. of the club. The Burning Sun Club was attached to an. upscale hotel. It's called Hotel Le. Méridien. I'm trying to pronounce it in. the French way. And uh both club and. hotel are going to be linked in a really. dark way later. Burning Sun's business model was that. once those club doors open and patrons. start flowing in, two separate business.

operations are going to be running at. the same time. The legal operation and. the underground VIP operation. The legal. operation runs like most popular. high-end nightclubs. Weekends, there are. lines wrapped around the building. Every. young adult wants to party at this. exclusive nightclub. It became a. lifestyle brand. Even if you weren't. necessarily having fun at the Burning. Sun, just by taking a picture and. tagging it on your Instagram story meant. that you were someone. Not everyone. could get in, and that's why everyone.

wanted to get in. Of course, like other clubs, guys had to. pay a cover fee to get in. But, if you. were a tall, attractive young woman, you. would get in for free. Side note, I'm. not a club-goer, so this doesn't really. impact me either way. And I'm not saying. that women shouldn't get into clubs for. free. I think women should be allowed. into a lot of places for free, like the. boardrooms. But, we are a capitalistic. society, and at the risk of sounding. dramatic, if you are not the one paying, you are the product. A bunch of guys.

wanted to go to the club because they. knew Burning Sun had high standards for. women. So, only the prettiest girls got. in for free. A bunch of girls wanted to. go to the club because they knew that in. order for guys to enter, not only did. they have to pay a cover fee, but. Burning Sun also attracted a certain. kind of man. And usually, if you saw a. guy with at a VIP table at the Burning. Sun, that meant that he did very well. for himself. And then, of course, there. were just the people that were curious. about what the hell was going on inside. So, they're like, "Let me just go once.". So, within In first few weeks of.

opening, Burning Sun made around 1.4. million dollars. Aw. After 6 months of. being in business, their earnings. doubled. And that's just the legal side. of their business. I would imagine. they're bringing in a lot more money. with their underground business. Cover. fees are a small source of the legal. income. The main money maker for the. club's legal business was alcohol. packages, VIP tables. Burning Sun made. the money spending experience fun and. lavish. If you purchased an alcohol set.

for your table, beautiful women in short. dresses would come with sparklers and. bottles parading around you to let the. whole club know that you just made a. horrible financial decision. They had five main sets. The Heaven set, which included five bottles of champagne. for $10,000. Continental set A, $50,000. for 80 bottles of Dom. 80, I don't even. know. Wait, so the Heaven set is the cheapest. one? The Heaven set is the cheapest one.

Yeah. For $10,000? Yeah. Wow. Continental set B included 30 bottles of. Jay-Z champagne and it's $50,000. Continental set C, 40 bottles of a. different high-end champagne, $50,000. And lastly, the most expensive set was. called the Mansour set. Apparently, it. was named after the vice president of. the UAE who is known in Korea as a. world-class rich person. That's what. they call him, literally, a world-class. rich person. His net worth is $30.

billion. So yeah, I would say so, he is a. world-class rich person. He's part of. the royal family. Oh, I see. I see. Yeah. The set. comprised of 22 bottles and it was. priced at $100,000. It's alleged that Seungri made up the. Mansour set for fun, thinking, "Nobody's. going to spend $100,000.". But people did. There was one Taiwanese businesswoman. that would come in and blow $200,000 in. one night. A business woman? Well, some.

sources report she's a business woman. I. would say most sources report her to be. the housewife of a of a businessman. Oh, okay. Yes. She would later become an investor. in the club and Seungri's bottomless. purse. Huh. Side note about her, I don't know. if she saw the future of the business, that's why she invested and spent so. much time at the club, or if she just. had a love for Big Bang. I kind of get. the feeling that she's just. Oh. obsessed with Big Bang. She would. bring her luxury designer bags to be. signed by Big Bang members.

Huh. It just seemed like she was a super. rich fan. Mhm. So, we went over the legal alcohol menu. for club goers, but in order to. experience the full menu of the Burning. Sun, you have to be a consistent VIP. This is going to open you up to a whole. new world. When a VIP walks in through. the door, first of all, they get a. separate entrance. And if you spend. around $10,000 a night, you get two. guards to accompany you, and they are. also kind of like. your butlers. The employees in the club. know when a VIP walks in, and they all.

cater to that person all night long, making sure that everything that they. could possibly want under the sun, they've got it. VIPs want to do drugs, even though it's highly, highly illegal. in South Korea, no problem. There's a. VIP bathroom at the Burning Sun where. allegedly could be taken orally, but. also through the vein, if that's what. the VIP clients wanted. Full service. Side note, a lot of these. employees would spend their time working. as merchandisers. This is a very. important position at the Burning Sun.

So, most merchandisers, at like most. establishments, they need to keep. inventory of the alcohol, make sure the. bartenders are giving top shelf alcohol. for someone that orders it, and keeping. the house vodka to the house vodka. orders. Mhm. But there's another side of. merchandisers working at the Burning. Sun, and we're mainly going to be. talking about them moving forward when I. talk about merchandisers. They are there. to provide all other products, {quote}. products, for the VIPs. The regular. merchandisers take care of the alcohol,

the food, the napkins, the crystal. glasses for the whiskey. The VIP. merchandisers are almost like personal. shoppers, personal concierges, butlers. for the night. And they usually try to plan ahead for. the VIPs' needs over the weekend. On. Thursday, every merchandiser from the. Burning Sun sends out text messages. The regular merchandisers will send out. the weekend specials to the regular. clients. About imported champagne that. they just received that's on special, or.

a new claw-footed bathtub filled with. ice and champagne, or a new party theme. with cover fee being slashed in half, or. a new DJ that's going to be featuring. this weekend. The VIP merchandisers will. send out similar text. This week's. specials are almost like a restaurant's. weekly specials, catch of the day at. supermarkets. But instead of promoting. cover fees being discounted or alcohol. sets being on special, they were sending. pictures and videos of women. All. unconscious women. They were naked and.

had just been essayed by other employees. or VIPs. The merchandisers believed that. these women, these victims, could be. victimized again. So, it's just a matter of which one the. VIPs wanted. Under each picture or video. of a girl was a price. To drug and essay the girl. They're. selling essay. They're not even selling. They're selling rape. So, they're going to what? Lure the girls back in.

Wow. So, they get their numbers usually the. weekend before when they're booked and. lure them back in. And just like how the alcohol specials. changed every week, the girls changed. every week. The merchandisers would text. the VIP, "You can have this one, or how. about this one?" Or you can like this. A. kind of playing like this. So they're referencing videos like you. can also do it like this. Or text that read, "I can make you a. reservation guest. If you come, I can.

get you this girl." If there was more. than one VIP client that wanted the same. girl that weekend, they would open a. bid. The clients would bid auction on. the woman who had no idea that any of. this was even happening. Many of the. club investors and VIP clients were. wealthy businessmen from other. countries. So there were a lot of rich. Chinese, Japanese, and Thai businessmen. who would travel for work to Seoul and. they would stop by the Burning Sun to. let off steam. The merchandisers were. really good at knowing exactly what kind. of girls each of them wanted. They.

always stated that the Chinese VIPs. really liked Kangnam unnies. So Kangnam. is like the Beverly Hills of Seoul and. unnie means older sister. It's a really. nice way of saying they like faces with. a lot of work done. So when they knew. that a group of Chinese VIPs were coming. in, they would send them the weekly. specials filled with Kangnam unnies. It's like none of the VIPs wanted. workers. That's the part a lot of netizens were. infuriated by because regardless of how. anybody feels about sex work, if it is. between two consenting adults, there is.

a level of understanding there. There is. a transaction that's being made and in. the best best case scenario, it's a. win-win. Both parties get exactly what. they want and I say that in defense of. the workers, right? Cuz usually they get. the short end of the stick. Now, anyway, it would be a bit more. acceptable if this club was illegally. running some sort of brothel. But that's. not what's happening. They're. straight-up trafficking. I mean, this is. like human trafficking. None of the VIPs. wanted sex workers. They wanted.

girl-next-door. filmed while being sexually assaulted. They wanted victims. That's what they. wanted. But let's say they didn't choose. a girl through text ahead of time. They. showed up without advance notice. The. merchandisers would go out and pick out. the girls that they felt best suited the. VIPs types and bring them into the VIP. room. So, they just walk around on the floor? Yeah. And just any girl that had come to. spend money at their establishment, a. potential victim. Or the VIP would. already have their eyes on a girl or two.

in the club and they would just be. brought in. They would request, "I want that one and. that one." The employees would go to. those girls and bring them in. And just to reiterate this point home, sorry if it feels redundant, but it is a. huge part of this case. These women that. they're picking to bring to the VIP. rooms are not employees of the club and. they are not sex workers. And I don't. say that to say employees or sex workers. are not as important, but I'm saying if. it was an employee or a sex worker, they. would be there for work. Like these. women literally came as customers, have.

no idea that they're being chosen to be. victimized. They're like Min-jun, just. hanging out with friends. The assaults. would either happen right in the VIP. rooms or upstairs in one of the hotel. rooms of the Le Meridien. And the hotel. also happened to be an investor in the. club. So, there is a question of how big. and how well-thought-out this operation. was from start to finish. The hotel owns close to 50% of the club. Okay. The speculation being perhaps that was.

the whole point that Burning Sun was. created Mhm. for this reason. It's not a. club that happened to fall into. trafficking, Yeah, they partnered. a front for trafficking. Mhm. I think the unsettling thing about this. case is both operations were done pretty. out in the open. This is a club. It's. not like one of those money laundering. schemes where a front is a churro shop. and behind the scenes is god knows what. We'll never know because the public will. never see it, hear about it, know. anything about it. But with Burning Sun,

they're running these operations in. front of all the club goers. I would. liken this to the feeling of going to a. supermarket, shopping for beef, not. knowing that there are security cameras. watching you, and another group of. people behind those cameras shopping for. human meat. Like, that's the feeling, I'm sure. And because nobody really knew what was. going on inside the Burning Sun Club, aside from victims who were staying. quiet out of fear, people were lining. up, fighting, paying to get into the.

Burning Sun, a place that would turn out. to be a literal hell for the victims. And it all gets exposed by a 29-year-old. man by the name of Kim's Han-gyu. We're. going to call him Kim for the rest of. the story. November 24th, 2018, Kim went. to Burning Sun with a bunch of his. friends. It was his friend's birthday. They're all there to have a good time. It also happened to be the first snow, cheonnun, which is a very special day in. Korea. We're supposed to make a wish and. spend it with your loved ones. It's very. cute, romantic day. So, Kim decides to.

go outside. He's in the Burning Sun, and. the snow starts falling. So, he's like, "Oh my god, I'm going to go outside just. quickly to see the snow." He kind of. parts with his friends, and on his way. out, he sees a woman half passed out, barely conscious, being dragged out by a. man. She looks like she's trying to grab onto. passersby. She doesn't want to leave. It's clear this is not consensual. She. clearly wants help. So, Kim decides, "I'm going to help." He decides to block. the man from taking this woman, and this. man happened to be a VIP client, and the.

employees of the Burning Sun did not. take well to Kim standing in the VIP's. way. Wow. So, they they're like blatantly Oh, in front of people. Wow. Yeah. The. employees also did not appreciate that. Kim was now standing in their way of. making a fat tip. So, they dragged him. outside, in front of Burning Sun CCTV. cameras, into the snowy road, and they. start beating him. They start pummeling. Kim. The club executive was one of the. main perpetrators. He trips Kim with his.

foot, grabs Kim by the hair. to hold his head in place. Uses his. other hand to punch him in the face. repeatedly. It was getting to the point. where even one of the bouncers was like, "Hey, let's chill out a little bit on. this customer." But this this executive. is not listening. Another bouncer jumps. in to help hold Kim in place, so it's. easier for the club executive to hit. him. At one point, the club executive. even walks away from Kim who's on the. road just sitting there because now he. has three broken ribs. It's painful to.

even try and get up. This is not a light. beating. The club executive walks over to his. little bouncers, takes off his jacket. only to walk back over and continue. beating Kim. Then when he's finally. done, he just walks back into the club. with the bouncers leaving Kim on the. ground. Kim is confused, scared, but. also rightfully really really really. pissed. He calls the police who gets. there 12 minutes later and he's. explaining to the police what happened. and he's pointing at the CCTV cameras.

like, "Hey, it's all on there. Everything that happened, you're going. to see it on there, so go look at it.". The police don't really do anything. And Kim is like, "What are you doing? I. said the person that did this to me is. in there. He went that way, so go into. the club and find him." They're still. not really doing anything. Frustrated, Kim kicks the trash can in front of the. VIP entrance and they still don't do. anything. Finally, officers decide to go into the. club leaving Kim outside. They talk with. the security, they talk with the club. executive that beat up Kim, and once.

they get back outside of the club, they. arrest Kim. They tackle Kim to the. ground and arrest Kim. They handcuff him from the back, which I. imagine is quite painful as he has three. broken ribs. Employees are oddly seen. helping the police arrest Kim, which is just really. suspicious if you think about it because. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Even if some even if a client did. something wrong and they're getting. arrested on the premises, why would you. help? Like you. There's enough cops already. Yeah.

Kim would state that as he's being. dragged into the police station, the. officers intentionally tripped him and. since his hands were handcuffed behind. his back, he had nothing to break his. fall except with his face. An officer. tripped him? Yeah. He had busted his. face, had a severe nosebleed. He claimed. the police also kicked him and hit him. several times where he had already. broken his ribs. He had several broken. ribs and they still refused medical. care. He was seen at the police station. yelling, "Seungri's club, you guys got. money. They do hard and they do.

marijuana in there.". January 28th, 2019, Kim starts going on. interviews and making posts about what. happened to him inside the Burning Sun. His main accusations were, "Women are. being at the club. Police are getting. paid by the club to look the other way.". He said, "Screams could sometimes be. heard coming from the VIP rooms of girls. begging for help. These are masked by.

club security and then the paid off. police department nearby protects the. club from legal liability. The police. aren't here to protect the public. They're corrupt.". Kim started a Blue House petition and it. received more than 200,000 signatures in. just one day. The petition detailed. specific and assault cases that. allegedly happened within the Burning. Sun club as well as their sketchy and. corrupt relationship with the local city. police. It gained so much attention, the. president at the time promised to have. his team look into it. But when the Blue House looked into it,

the police just turned in random reports. that Kim was committing assaults in the. club. They argued, "Look, Kim is the one. that was assaying people in the club. He. was caught, dragged outside by employees. and beaten. Should he have been beaten. like that? No, but the employees just. really hate scum of the earth assayers, you know? So, we came out and we arrested the guy. With this, all the news outlets started. reporting Kim as some sort of criminal, which is a whole long story we're going. to get into later. But the Burning Sun.

even came out with an official statement. stating Kim was an offender and they had. no choice but to kick him out. To. support their statement, they submitted. two complaints from women who allegedly. were assaulted by Kim at the club. Suddenly, the story very quickly becomes. a he said, she said situation rather. than a very serious allegation of. trafficking inside of a club. But. netizens did notice something strange. The person who filed a complaint against. Kim saying that she was harassed by him. at the club was an employee of the club. Not saying that they can't be harassed.

by clients, but like. she was a merchandiser at the club. It. was Anna, the drug runner. Mhm. Mhm. People didn't know that yet, but still it was just weird. Right after. he alleges that there's an underground. ring happening at the club, an employee. of the club. says that he is the assaulter. Mhm. Kim. said that he was charged unrighteously. and inaccurately on seven charges. including defamation, indecent acts, criminal battery, and more. And our team.

tries really hard to not make something. about something that it's not, right? But there was a feeling by the. K-netizens and by a lot of people that. had gone to the Burning Sun. Okay, a man has spoken out about the club. Mhm. And sure, it's kind of a he said, she said situation, but a lot of. netizens were still on this man's side. and supporting him. And it kind of felt. safe enough for women to come forward. now. Because if it had been a woman. whistleblower to this, there had been. other small cases of women trying to.

anonymously come forward that something. weird was happening at the Burning Sun, they were slut-shamed Mhm. to hell and. back. But now that there was a male at the. center of this whistleblowing situation, Right. they felt like, okay, maybe we. can also help bolster his story because. we have our own stories about the. Burning Sun. Damn, that says a lot. Yeah, a lot. I mean, just like the crime. itself says a lot about. the violence against a certain gender, and then this just reiterates that. So,

you know, like I said, before that it. was people like Min-jung, people who are. getting blamed, victim-blamed, and now a. man comes out and they're like, "Okay, maybe this is our chance to expose. what's really been happening." So, because of Kim, a lot of anonymous women. start coming forward with their stories. of the Burning Sun. Many of these. stories would confirm Kim's allegations. of police corruption, because many of. these women reported their essays to the. police, and they did nothing. It was revealed that the most commonly. used to essay women at the club was GHB. It's called "mulppong" in Korea. Well,

at least that's what most commonly used. slang for it. It is the most commonly. used date drug even here in the US. It. comes in a clear liquid form or white. powder that becomes completely dissolved. and invisible in the liquid. It is. odorless, tasteless, and colorless. There was a journalist who experimented. by taking GHB herself under the care of. a doctor. She was so loopy, she. alternates from being passed out to. being awake and like writing things on.

her hand and talking about her mom. She. doesn't remember a single thing. None of. it. Wow. But, that's not the only damage. Long. use of GHB can result in poor memory and. even brain damage. If you take a lot. while consuming alcohol, it could even. result in death. The victim usually. starts becoming semi-conscious just from. one sip. It's like the lights are turned. off suddenly. But, it can't really be. detected that well. It's often compared. to a state of dementia. You can walk. around by yourself, but you don't.

remember walking around. And everything. feels separated from your own free will. At the Burning Sun, some employees would. request to be brought zombies for VIP. Room 3, for example. They'd be like, "Okay, we need zombies in room three.". Because GHB makes the victims able to. walk and talk, but they're not there. They're not making any decisions. themselves, so they know that these. victims are either entirely unconscious. or their cognitive abilities are all. heavily affected by the. So, they know damn well that there is no.

consent that is given. And the worst part of GHB. is that the drug is basically. untraceable. I mean, yeah, it It's not untraceable, but it it's not for long. So, that's how. the girl tested negative. Yes. So, depending on the person, the. drug can be completely metabolized. anywhere between 5 to 24 hours of use. Meaning, if you go home feeling like. something very sinister happened, you. feel like, "Okay, I need to get my. thoughts straight before I go to the. police station because I can't walk in. there and say, 'I don't know, something.

happened. I don't know.'". But by that point, the drug be. completely out of your system. Mhm. Wow. And you would be labeled as a. flower snake in Korea. It's referencing. a woman who seduces men, sleeps with. them, and then wakes up the next morning. deciding to sue them for money. In. Korea, the drug is often described with. this phrase, "I did this action, but I. don't remember doing this action.". Which I think is a really good indicator. of how hard it is in a place like Korea. to prove that you've been drugged and. assaulted and have the police take you.

seriously. At this point, everything starts. snowballing. It went from a man was. being assaulted and maybe a single VIP. was assaulting a woman or at least. trying to, then it snowballs into no, they are running a sex trafficking ring. and there are many, many women getting. drugged and assaulted by many different. VIPs and the employees are all in on it. And the big question on everyone's mind, which yeah, I don't I don't know if it. was the most appropriate question at the. time, but it was, "How much of this did.

K-pop idol Lee Seung-li know about it?". As one of the co-owners of the club, people wanted a public statement from. him ASAP. Did he or did he not know that. his employees were running a business at. his club? Seungri's dad did an interview. with media first, where he claimed. Seungri was blindsided by all of this. He stated that his son had businesses. everywhere, and he's still an idol after. all at the end of the day. These. businesses are not his main business. As. much as he wants to be super involved at. the Burning Sun, he just didn't have the.

time. And now, now he's super shocked. and disappointed just. like you, the public. The dad said, and. I quote, "There's too many speculative. articles about this Burning Sun case. They're only taking the other side. story, and it's unfortunate that they're. only focusing on that. Just because it's. called the Seungri club. does not mean that my son was directly. involved with the things that had. happened.". He would later go on to insinuate that. the media just wanted to attach Seungri.

so heavily to the crime because it makes. for a better story. Makes for a better. headline. The dad even went on to say. that Seungri didn't even own the club. anymore, and that he wasn't in a. position to give instructions or give. orders at the club. He had a CEO in. place for that. So, Seungri is not the. CEO of Burning Sun. Just a co-founder. His dad goes on to say, "I talked to. Seungri today. He said his fans and. everyone will want to hear an. explanation. He sounded like he was. having a hard time. He can't help but. feel misunderstood.

My son is not in a position to directly. work at Burning Sun. He's rarely in. Korea, and he's busy with his ramen. franchise. Yeah, he has a ramen. franchise. And solo concerts abroad. This time, I'm sure he really felt the. burn. It's unfortunate. But last month, he received the 2019. Korea Consumer Evaluation Best Brand. Award, but none of that was covered by. the media. Instead, it comes out as if. he's a criminal. His true intentions will be revealed. through the investigation, but it's. upsetting that even before the results.

come out, he's accused of doing hard. He did a drug urine test because of this. issue and the results showed nothing was. wrong. My son feels wronged. Fake news. is being spread by the media. He's not a child that could hurt others. My son is having a hard time, especially. because the media is making things up. My heart hurts, too. Then Seungri did an interview of his own. where he stated he never bribed any. police officers or a police station. He. stated even if he wanted to, he didn't. have that much power. He was basically. just a boy that sang on stage. He said.

that all he did was lend his name and. fame to help the club gain more foreign. fans and have more club goers come. And. sometimes he would DJ at the club, but. that was really his involvement in the. club. He said, "I don't even know the. financials of the club.". He goes on to throw his business partner. of Yuri Holdings, the company that owns. 20% of the club, that is co-founded by Seungri. So, his. dad is saying, "Seungri, my son, doesn't. even own shares of the company of. Burning Sun.". And like technically Seungri doesn't own. shares of the Burning Sun, but he owns a.

company called Yuri Holdings that owns. 20% of the club. And Seungri is like, "You know, I heard. that my business partner was talking. about women and asking for women and. trying to buy sex and I tried to stop. him, but he wouldn't listen to me and I. don't really hold that kind of power. over a business partner, so there's. nothing I can do if that's an adult, you. know.". Throws him under the bus. Seungri promises to the media and to the. public that he's going to do anything to. help with the investigation and he wants. the truth out there as much as anybody.

else. Of course, their responses make. the case blow up more, but on top of. that, the business partner that he threw. under the bus is actually married to a. then very famous actress by the name of. Park Han-byul. So, he's like, "Hey, you know that. actress? Well, her husband. is like looking for sex workers.". So, of course the case blows up even. more, right? But at least Seungri's fans. are super relieved. They felt like, "Woo, we dodged a bullet. Seungri is. still good. He's still the guy that we.

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To give you context on Seungri, he was. part of a five-person K-pop group called. Big Bang. And I feel like for anyone who. knows even a little bit about Korean. entertainment or even really Korean. culture at this point, Big Bang is just. one of those groups that needs no. introduction. So, I'm going to try and. keep it brief for those that are just. not in the K-pop world. Big Bang is like. the One Direction of K-pop, meaning they. will always be remembered at one point. as being one of the most iconic boy.

bands in K-pop history. I'm not saying. right now, I'm just saying at one point. they were. And I'm not saying that. they're better than your faves or even. like they paved the way or anything, but. they were really, really popular. Yeah, like between what, 2008 to 2012? Like they dominated the world. Dominated. Yeah, it is unclear how much. revenue the group generated or at least. we couldn't find out an exact figure, but we did find out that they brought in. $800. in ticket sales for their concerts.

during their career. That's probably a very small cut of the. overall revenue that they generated. That's not including album sales, streaming revenue, appearance fees, ambassadorships, royalties from music. That's just concert sales is $800. million. Yeah. So, they're an. influential group. And Seungri always. felt like the black sheep of the group. It's pretty evident in hindsight that he. had an intense inferiority complex while. he was part of Big Bang. And it does. seem like there were a few pain points. for him. Seungri applied to be a trainee.

for the K-pop group that would be later. Big Bang. There was a series of. cutthroat competitions till a group of. boys was narrowed down. They just wanted. five members. Everything was ruthlessly. judged and criticized by YG, who was. picking the trainees. They had four. members already picked and it was down. to the last spot. Seungri and another. boy were competing neck and neck for it. Seungri barely made it. It was so neck. and neck it was like Nah, I guess we'll.

go with Seungri. It wasn't like, "Oh. man, he won by a landslide. That was so. good. He really stood out." It was such. a close call. And that type of complex he felt like. I'm not as good as the other members. YG was so certain on the other members. But for me it was kind of it was kind of. iffy. Now, that kind of complex doesn't. necessarily make someone a bad person. Fans actually fell in love with Seungri. for the sides of him that were shown. They remember during the early days of. Big Bang there were reality shows that.

they would do that showcased what their. lives were like as trainees and they. would all be crammed together inside. these very not so great apartments that. the company was paying for. They would. have to clean up after themselves after. training and dancing for like 18 hours a. day. And Seungri being the youngest of. the group, in Korean culture that means. he has to do a lot more chores than the. others. He has to do things like wake. everyone up. Which is harder than you. think. The oldest of the group, TOP, he. refuses to wake up. So it's standard to. see Seungri go into the kitchen, grab. pots and pans to bang together to wake.

up his hyung. Another member would start. vacuuming the wall. on top of TOP's face to try and wake him. up because he's just I guess a heavy. sleeper. And it's kind of like a. heartwarming moment. It's relatable. It's funny and considering how young the. boys were at this point it was. endearing. But Seungri was always being compared to. his other bandmates. I would say I. remember, and this is just from memory. and not research, G-Dragon, TOP, Taeyang, like they had so many stans. from the people that I knew personally. Seungri just.

didn't really have a lot of stans from. what I remember. He did seem to get a. good chunk of hate comments. People. joked they didn't like the size of his. head that it was really big. They also. said that his legs were too short and. that other members were very good. looking but Seungri was um had a. relatable looking face they said. He. said he especially didn't like the. comments about his head because. and I quote, "It's not like I can get a. head reduction." But even that moment is. a good example of why a lot of people. started to stand Seungri. He seemed like. the underdog and he was not shy to show.

that he was vulnerable and he wasn't. like trying to be like, "I'm actually. really good guys.". He was embracing it and he's like, "Yeah, I am the ugliest of the group but. what am I going to do about it, right?". He said he was always anxious about. never having enough money and he said. G-Dragon earns extra money from. songwriting and writes to the copyrights. of their songs because he writes a lot. of their music. TOP does acting in. movies and dramas. Taeyang does solo. albums and concerts. Seungri said that. he was anxious because all of them were. so diverse in their earnings and their.

income and he said, "I am making {quote}. 1% of what G-Dragon is making.". [sighs]. Wow. [snorts]. And like a lot of people with a. potential inferiority complex, he starts. overcompensating. It felt like he's. desperately trying to make something. work and I just want to make it clear. I'm sure his idol life, like a lot of. idols, if not every idol in South Korea, is cutthroat, is hard, potentially. miserable and rough. But from what we. can tell, the man is not starving. He's. not paycheck to paycheck. So when he's.

saying, "I'm making 1% of what G-Dragon. is making," he's not out here working a. restaurant job after his training. Like. he's doing fine. about like at that point if TOP is doing. acting and solo, like they are already. popping at that point. Yeah, he's killing it. Like as a part of. Big Bang, like But they he kind of made. it his personality and a lot of fans. felt bad for him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. like I just want to preface, we don't. need to feel bad for him. But his image at that point is just like.

this soft good boy, like very like. little you know, very soft energy. People love it. People loved him. Yes. A nice guy nice. guy image. Yes, he said he just wanted to keep up. with other members so he learned. English, Chinese, and Japanese. He. opened up one of his first businesses, a. training camp for idols. Lot of big. names came out of there. Lot of big. names. Huh. So, he did a training camp? Mhm. Huh. I was going to list some names but I. don't even want them to be like.

associated with Seungri but like a lot. of big names came and they don't even. know like Seungri and they're not. connected with anything that he did but. just in case. But yeah, lots of big. names. Closed down after a few years. because one of the teachers had gotten. romantically involved with a student. Not a good look. He moves on with other business ventures. and by 2018 he finally made a name for. himself outside of Seungri of Big Bang. He was hosting multiple talk shows, going on TV shows, acting in dramas, doing promotional activities for YG. Entertainment. That's the agency that.

created Big Bang. He calls the founder. of YG, Mr. YG Entertainment himself. He. calls him appa, which is dad, because of. how close they are. He started a Belgian waffle cafe for his. mom to run. He co-opened a restaurant. called Monkey Museum in China. He had a. ramen franchise called Aori Ramen and it. had multiple locations in Korea and even. a branch in Kuala Lumpur. He owned 10%. shares of a cosmetic medical company. called Dr. Goldratt. He was serving as a. brand ambassador for a new music label.

launched by Sony Music. He was heavily. involved in YGX, which is a sub label. under YG Entertainment. He would also go. on to build this image of himself as the. Great Gatsby of Korea, which was great. marketing for all of his night. businesses, like his bars and clubs. So, now we have a potential inferiority. complex, love for lavish parties, lots. of businesses in the nightlife party. scene, but still that doesn't make. someone complicit in something as. serious as a trafficking scheme. Did he.

really know what was going on? His fans. argued, absolutely not. They felt like. he was innocent. This is Sung Lee that. we're talking about. Do people not. remember? A lot of people dug up an old. clip of Sung Lee, and it had been on a. TV show called I Live Alone. He was. talking to another actress. It's a. reality show. They're sitting there. talking, and the actress recently had a. baby. And out of nowhere, she asks Sung. Lee, "I can give you some if you want.". And he's like, "Give me what?". "The soap I use.".

Breast milk soap. And Sung Lee looks very shocked. "Oh. What go What is What is it made from?". "It's soap, made from a mother's breast. milk." Sung Lee puts his cup down to. take a few seconds to gather his. thoughts. Uh. "Breast milk is very healthy, yeah?". Because he doesn't want to offend her, but he still doesn't know what to say in. that moment. And it's a really innocent, comical moment. The actress keeps. explaining the whole process of how the. soap is made, and Sung Lee is coughing.

because he's shocked by all of this. information, and he's just trying to be. polite. So, he says, "O- Okay, yeah. Uh thank you. Yes, of. course I I would love some.". "How many do you want? I have a lot. You. can just text me." He's like basically. about to throw up some water if he has. any in his mouth, and he's "T- Text you. to ask for the breast milk?" It seemed. like the actress was genuinely having a. fun time shocking Sung Lee, messing. around with him. And Sung Lee comes off.

super naive, super innocent, super. polite. So, fans are like, "You're. telling me that this guy that's shy when. someone offers him breast milk soap is a. brilliant mastermind behind a sex. trafficking ring? Breast milk boy? Do. you know what it means to bomb a chat?". Mhm. Usually friends will start group. chats on KakaoTalk, which is like the. WhatsApp or WeChat of Korea. And when. they're done with the group chat, or if. they've said enough inappropriate.

comments or told enough secrets on that. group chat, someone will text "Blow up. the chat." One by one, the notifications. come in. Blank left the chat. Blank left. the chat. And once every single person. leaves the chat, everything in that chat. gets automatically deleted by Kakao. So, it's not like you can leave the chat, but still see what's in the chat. It's. gone. The chat history deleted along. with any videos and pictures sent into. the chat. When the Burning Sun group. would feel like the chat had gotten a. little too incriminating, when they had.

texted too many pictures and videos of. unconscious women, when they had talked. about too many VIPs assailing. unconscious women, they would. periodically text out "Bomb the chat. Blow it up." Which helps with making. sure that if someone's phone is ever. taken in by the police, if someone's. phone is ever lost, they might see the. current group chats that are probably. very incriminating. They won't see years. and years of incriminating activity. It's almost like an insurance policy to. everybody in that chat that they were. going to at least cover their asses. And.

it was in everyone's best interest to. bomb the chat, to delete it. Or so they. thought. JJY was part of these group. chats. And some quick context to JJY, um. he's what they call a multi-player in. Korea. He's a singer-songwriter TV. personality. He's known for having this. wild, fun personality, so a lot of talk. shows love him. He's also very, very. good at singing. He never left the. chats. He was part of all the Burning. Sun chats. He was part of every single. Seungri chat about unconscious women,

selling women, bidding women. He never. left it because he felt so sad to part. with all the amazing pictures and videos. of women being victimized. So, he always pretended to leave the. chat last, but the truth is he never. left any of them. He kept each and every. single one. And when his ex-girlfriend. reported him for taking videos of her. without her consent, and he would turn.

his phone in to the tech company, he. would be the one to bring the whole. operation down. Wow. So, even when he did that, he. thought he can just break his phone and. he's good. Yeah. But, these are This is the tech. company that recovered the data from. Sewol Ferry victims' phones. So, like. they knew what they were doing and they. take their jobs very seriously. But, he was like, "Oh, well, I basically. smashed my phone, so it's fine." It was. not fine. Even years before this, there was an. incident that felt like foreshadowing to. everything that was about to happen. JJY.

was on a show with Chicol, another. celebrity, and Chicol joked about JJY's. golden phone. And immediately, because. they're on set filming a show, JJY's. face changes for a split second. He's. Not his like He drops his face mask. Not. his literal face mask, but he drops his. smile and he has this very sour look on. his face. It's very much the stop. talking about this look. What's a golden phone? People thought golden phone as in these. sex videos, no? But, Chicol would later be involved in.

the Burning Sun controversy because. netizens accused him of knowing what JJY. was doing on his phone. He's like, "You. probably saw the videos then.". Yeah, why would he If he does, why would. he put that information in TV, right? That's what Chicol is saying. He's. saying, "Guys, I meant golden phone. Like, sometimes people use it to refer. to someone who has a lot of good. connections. So, if you were to have. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift on speed dial, you have a golden phone cuz you have. their numbers." Mhm. And so, he was.

briefly involved in the Burning Sun. scandal. But, ultimately, JJY's golden. phone would bring down some of the. biggest names in K-pop. February 26, 2019, the first round of. messages are released to the public. And. multiple celebrities would go down after. the release. Along with investors, the. management team, and employees of. Burning Sun, there were a few key people. in the group chats. Choi Jong-hoon, wholesome singer from FT Island boy. group. Yeah, [sighs]. Lee Jong-hyun, idol from boy band.

CNBLUE. Kwon Hyuk-joon, brother of. Girls' Generation Yuri. JJY, singer, TV. host, celebrity, TV personality, and of. course, Seungri of Big Bang, owner of. the Burning Sun. And it clearly shows. that Seungri is involved. He is texting. employees about investors that are. coming, and he writes, "Give them. everything they want. Call the girls. over. There's also a guest coming from. Taiwan." Employee responds, "Which girls. can we call right now? Oh man, it's the. Chinese already? Oh my god.".

"Take care of them so they don't get. involved with others.". "Yes, I will stick by the VIPs.". Seungri texts, "You better do it right. and make no mistakes.". Another business partner tells the. employee, "Put a boy in there, too. Someone who can serve redacted. A boy. who can't speak English, someone like. redacted." [music]. Employee responds, "Okay, we'll do. I'll. do the job well." Seungri even texts, "And which girl are you going to bring? Get the kids who give it easily.". Get the kids who gives easily? Yeah, like as in is easy to essay.

Is the presumption here. JJY is randomly. in that group chat, and he's like, "I. bet the Chinese like plastic surgery. girls.". And Seungri is just like, "All right, just do well.". Another partner of the business texts. into the group chat, "I'm preparing the. girls right now, so when the two girls. come, I will guide them and make sure. they end up smoothly with the VIPs in. the hotel room." Seungri texts, "Chairman's guests are also coming. I. think we need to set up a separate party. for them. Let's give them back a hundred.

times what we received from them. Guys, please look for any pretty looking girls. who can possibly speak some Japanese. Let's pack the place. For Christmas, rather than us having fun, let's. experience a Christmas of finding. satisfaction in making others happy. This time, let's give the chairman a. great time and make him happy for all. the summers he sent us yachts with staff. and chefs from Japan to Busan for us to. enjoy. Bro, like he is the worst. because he's literally.

manip- masterminding this whole string. He is the culprit. He is the mastermind. behind this whole operation. Like he's. the worst. He's like the one that's. connecting everyone. Like none of this. would have even been possible without. him. he's doing this for the money and profit. and he's literally selling women for. money. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like a. lot of media outlets, I don't know if. it's legality or they're just trying to. keep it professional. But honestly, he's just straight up, in.

my personal opinion, like a pimp. Yeah. Yeah, worse than. that. Yeah, vile trafficking pimp, like. honestly. Yeah. In another conversation, Seungri talks about a girl that he likes. and he writes, "Redacted is actually. art. I admit it.". JJY texts, "I touched the hell out of. her boobs.". "Her boobs big?". "They're fake.". Seungri texts, "Redacted is coming.". Like a girl is coming. And JJY says,

"Stop these foreigners from coming.". Seungri texts, "You there. are investors.". Then another conversation, Seungri. writes, "Fuck, the party last night was. a hit.". Another idol says, "It was successful.". Seungri writes, "That girl, I admit it, I'm hooked. Her older sister is good, too.". Seungri say that? Yeah. JJY texts, "Yeah, her sister was a. surprise. There were a lot of hidden. gems yesterday.". Friend text, "But there seems to be.

hella guys around, too.". Seungri says, "We have to steal. Let's. all eat domestic girls together in Korea. and then get married to foreign girls. Friend text, why is blank so pretty? JJY says, she's the both Mr. B and. I ate. LOL. Seungri text, and I plan on eating her, too. Anyone here got her number? An employee of Burning Sun text, if you. do it with that it's guaranteed a. secret. She's very, I don't know.

anything. Seungri text, LOLOL. She has amnesia. She doesn't even remember who she does. it with. JJY text, no, not amnesia, just R word. LOLOL. Seungri text, could be she just doesn't remember. JJY is angry. He says, when she first. met me, she was all BS-ing about, I. don't watch TV, so I don't know you. But. after she got drunk, she was whining and. asking me to sing for her. Seungri says,

want me to tell you something more. funny, or rather absurd? I opened my. eyes and I was like, why am I sleeping. with C noona? When I was like, I thought. I was sleeping with these other two. girls. Where did they go? LOLOL. In another chat, Seungri is asking a VIP. client about what kind of woman they. like, and the client responds, I'm not. sure. South Asian men like white skin, so someone with fair skin and innocent. and pretty features, or the opposite, just sexy. Girls like blank, blank, and.

blank who are innocent yet sexy, or just. a super fancy glamorous girl, those. types of girls. Wouldn't that type of. style work? We want over 160 cm tall, thinner. It's not too picky, though. Girls from Korea will do. There are other chat logs where it seems. like Seungri is sending girls on trips. with VIP clients. He asks a VIP about an. Indonesia trip that he has coming up, and the VIP says that they want ones. that are under 10K per person. Seungri. writes, I understand. It's 10K per. person, right, Mr. CEO? He proceeds to.

send pictures of five different girls, and he writes, "Number one doesn't talk. that much and kind of loves money. She. also has aspects where she doesn't have. much charisma in drinking scenes, but. her visuals are great." Cry emoji. In another conversation, JJY texts the. group that he's boarding the plane soon. and he says, "I will Korean. as soon as I arrive. I'm going to invite. them to my house before going out. German have huge asses.". His idol friends write, "Get back. safely. Fly safe.". An employee of the Burning Sun writes,

"I bet German see smell like sausages.". JJY says, "Not bad. LOL, we had fun.". A lot of netizens noted that it's kind. of crazy that they're so polite to each. other, even saying things like get back. safely, have a safe flight, we miss you. Meanwhile, they talk about women, I. mean, in the most degrading ways possible. Another super controversial conversation. involved the idols talking about who. Seungri had sex with yesterday and they. asked, "Was she delicious?". And they said things like, "I want her. number." And one person wrote, "Yes, she.

is comfort woman level.". Let me tell you, comfort woman is a. very, very sensitive topic for most. Koreans. It is aside from the crimes, the most horrifying comment that was. found in the group chats. Chinese, too. It's It's a Chinese problem. Yeah. Yes. So, to give context, comfort woman. was one of the worst atrocities that the. Japanese government committed towards. Korean and Chinese women and a lot of. the victims So, when Japan colonized.

Korea along with various other countries. in Asia, so I don't believe that it was. just Korean and Chinese, they promised a. bunch of women from all these different. countries, but we're just talking about Korean. women here, that they could work in. factories to make just enough to barely. survive. They're like, "You can barely. get by and you can maybe feed your kid.". But because these women had no other. choice, nothing else, they were. basically forced to agree, not knowing. that the Japanese government never. intended them to work in factories. They. were actually forced into trafficking.

They were locked up and made to be. assaulted by Japanese soldiers every. single day. Comfort women have come. forward to say that they were essayed at. least 30 times a day. while they were held captive. I could go. into further detail, but it's very, very. depressing. They were impregnated, they. contracted diseases, they were. experimented on, tortured. So, the topic. of comfort women is highly sensitive. additionally because it's not really. something that happened long, long ago.

to. multiple generations before us. Many of. the comfort women, the victims, were elderly women in Korea. I believe. the last few are still alive. Many of. them have since passed, but they have. yet to receive an apology from the. Japanese government. And a lot of the. tensions in current time between the. Korean government and the Japanese. government, not to get too political, is. this is one of those things. Many Korean citizens want apologies for.

the comfort women before they pass on. And the Japanese government has refused. to acknowledge their crimes. And here we. have the Korean faces of the. entertainment world making fun of. comfort women and recreating the. tragedy, so to speak. I mean, even if we. take out the literal crimes committed in. the group chats, even just the way they. talk about women while they have a. predominantly female audience as idols. is despicable. It's filled with crude, emotionally violent, disgusting comments.

and jokes. And side note about the. messages being released, some people. hate the tech employee for not turning. in the text sooner. They state that if. it were them, they would have turned it. in sooner. And that could be a thousand. percent true, especially as a woman, I'm. like, yeah, maybe I would have turned it. in sooner. Few things to note, police. corruption is really bad anywhere, and. in Korea it's the same. There were already strong indications in. the data that the tech employees saw. that high high high up police officials. were involved in the trafficking ring, if you will. So, what would you do? Go.

to a different officer? What if they all. answer to the same person? How do you. know that person's immediate boss isn't. involved as well? And in Korea, when you mess with the. police as a normal person, you might be. ending your life right then and there. They could easily get you fired from. your job. They could get you outcasted. You could lose everything, your family, your livelihood. You would be on the. street, and guess what? Burning Sun. would probably still be up and running. and victimizing people. And. in Korea, defamation laws are. honestly dumb. Like, they're not even.

defamation laws. So, in the US, defamation is when someone knowingly. states a lie about another person. claiming it to be a fact. So, the basis. is you're lying about someone else, and. you're not allowed to do that, which. makes sense. In Korea, it's even if you. tell the truth about someone. and that someone doesn't like what you. said because it hurt their feelings or. hurt their reputation, they can sue you. for defamation, which a lot of people in Korea even. think it's very goofy cuz that's not. really even the definition of. defamation. Mhm. But, here we are.

This employee could have been sued to. the point of having nothing but the. clothes on his back cuz they're not even. dealing with one celebrity or one rich. business owner. They're dealing with a. whole roster of them, all cozy with. politicians and police. What chance does. this tech employee stand? And even if. they went through all of that, the. Burning Sun could still be up and. running. So, I don't know if I would sit. here and say, "Oh my gosh, well, that. person is messed up." I do think it is. frustrating that they sat on the.

information for 3 years while people. continue to be victimized, but I think. that there's so much cultural societal. nuance that goes into a decision like. that. And I think that we could. technically all sit here and be like, "I. could never do that." But, I don't know. I guess we don't really know. how powerful are these people? All of. these people combined. And who can he go. to? Like really, you don't know. It. seems like all the the people in charge. are in on this. And technically, he committed a very big. crime by keeping the data. Yeah. So, he. broke the law as well. Now, I will say.

that when he finally did turn in the. evidence after the whistleblower came. So, he saw that and he was like, I. think, you know, along with all the. other anonymous women that were coming. out, he was like, I think this is the. time that people would actually listen. and not think that these are fake. He. was very smart. He hired an attorney who. was also very smart and they decided. instead of handing it over to the police. who were foaming at the mouth for this, they handed it over to the Civil Rights. Commission office. And that is how a lot. of it became public because the police.

would have never made this public. Mhm. Which again, I don't know, maybe he. could have done that 3 years ago, maybe. it wouldn't have worked. All we know is. yeah, it's out now. Many of the involved parties continue to. state that these text messages are fake, but a lot of these texts are the. foundation of the investigation into. Burning Sun by the prosecutor's office, which netizens feel like that wouldn't. have been the case if there was a. question of the validity of them. And. the CEO of the Burning Sun even said, "If Seungri's Kakao messages from 3. years ago are a crime, aren't all Korean.

men criminals?". Insinuating that all these jokes about. sex work and women and all of that. is just how men talk. Wow. Which is the most absurd thing to say. ever, but it also does kind of confirm. the validity of the chat logs. But to. cover our bases, it is alleged for now. that these are the real messages between. the involved parties. But naturally, netizens had visceral reactions to the. released alleged messages. A lot of fans.

were devastated that they supported. someone like this. There were even chat. logs that described how JJY and four of. his friends took turns on a victim who. was drugged. They joked about how she. woke up saying she doesn't even remember. anything other than having a drink with. them. They also talked about how they. thought it was so funny they had gang. essayed her while taking pictures. And then the next morning, JJY went to a. fan sign. So, I mean, it's crazy he had the nerve. to look his predominantly female fans in.

the eyes while smiling at them when he. had just done one of the worst things. that you could do to a woman the night. before. The SMPA, the Seoul Metropolitan. Police Agency, officially take over. early 2019. Media is all over this case. Netizens want to know who's involved, how much they knew, and they want all of. them to go down. The shares of the. Burning Sun were split like this: 42%. owned by the hotel, 8% owned by the. hotel's chairman, 20% owned by Taiwanese. businesswoman Lynn Sa Mo, 20% owned by.

Yuri Holdings, which was allegedly set. up by Seungri, implying that he has. potentially 20% interest in the club. But, Yuri Holdings was also technically. run by his friend, Yoo In Suk. Yoo In. Suk is also married to a famous actress. by the name of Park Han Byul. Remember I. was telling you about her? Mhm. And 10%. is owned by businessman Lee Moon Ho. He was close friends with Seungri, and. he is said to have been running the. day-to-day operations. He is the CEO of. the Burning Sun. So, all the foreign.

investors, they left the country and. were safe from backlash, including the. Taiwanese businesswoman who owned 20% of. the Burning Sun. The rest of the Korean. celebrities and business owners were. left to be investigated. Burning Sun and. Seungri were also under investigation. for tax evasion, which, you know, really. doesn't feel that significant compared. to the other allegations, but I think. that it does shine light on a lot of the. things that he was doing. It was. suspected that with all of the business. from his VIP clients with the selling of. essay, essentially, allegedly, and a lot.

of the alcohol packages, he would. encourage payment in cash. It's alleged. that he was. evading taxes, money laundering. You. remember the restaurant that he had, Monkey Museum? They called it a. restaurant, but it was like a nightclub. He tried to file it under a restaurant. so that he could pay less taxes. His. ramen business was making a suspicious. amount of money. Turns out he was. laundering money from Burning Sun. through the ramen franchise. It was a. whole lot. It was a mess. Like, I think. it also shows he was heavily involved, you know? He knew what he was doing. So,

while everybody is being investigated, Seungri announces his retirement from. the entertainment industry. And it's a. very off-putting statement. He's. basically like, "I think it's a good. idea to retire at this point. I decided. to retire because the issue has caused. so much social controversy, and I've. been criticized and hated by the public. for the past month and a half. And now, with all the investigative agencies in. the country investigating me, I am being. labeled as a national traitor. I cannot. allow myself to cause harm to everyone. around me just to survive.".

And that is hated his apology. It felt. very, "You guys blew this whole thing. into something that it's not. So, now. I'm just going to retire then. I don't. want to face your criticism.". Also, it had this aura of, "I don't know. what's going on. I'm just as confused as. you are, you know?" It's like, "What's. going on?" There were even articles. titled, "The Burning Sun Scandal Case. that everyone except Seungri knows. about." He also stated that this would. be a good time for him to enlist in the. army and serve his duty as a good Korean.

citizen. And everyone got riled up for. that because in Korea, men have to serve. 2 years mandatory enlistment. They're. like, "The army is not a place for you. to escape your reality." So, even with. all of this, the consequences just. weren't that great. I mean, okay, maybe. that's a strange word to use. It wasn't even comparable, I guess would. be a better way to phrase it, right? Some of the more notable sentences. included JJY idol sentenced to 5 years. in prison. Choi Jong-hoon idol sentenced to 2 and. 1/2 years in prison. Brother of Girls'.

Generation Yuri sentenced to 4 years in. prison. Meanwhile, Seungri enlisted in. the army and he was able to have a. military trial. Wow. He had nine charges ranging from sex. work, violent crimes, and then breaking. food sanitation laws, occupational. embezzlement, things like that. He was. found guilty of all nine charges, sentenced to 3 years in prison. He would. have to file to be a sex offender and he. was fined almost $855,000.

He appealed. He was given 1 and 1/2. years in prison instead of 3. Here's a. convenient loophole that's going to piss. you off. In Korea, if you go to prison. for less than 1 and 1/2 years, you can. serve quietly, meaning it's not going to. be on your record when you get out. Seungri was sentenced to exactly 1 and. 1/2 years. So, technically, he missed. the cutoff and it would be on his. record. Somehow, he manages to get out 2. days early, meaning that it would be. expunged from his record. Oh, and he's spotted clubbing and.

cheating on women in Bali since then. It's on the record now. We're not going to forget about that and. So, he has fans. Yeah, there are some people that comment. things like, "He's still young. I hope. that he can overcome the mistakes of the. past and live an amazing life. Isn't the. rest of his life too long for him to. just crumble like this? He paid the. price of his sins through the law. already. Let's all give him a chance.". I will say most of the comments are. pretty logical and they read, "Every. country needs harsher punishments for.

sexual assault. He suffers 2 years in. prison. His victims suffer a lifetime. 2. years isn't enough if you ask me. Anyways, if the system doesn't give them. what they deserve, society should.". Regardless, I think we can all agree. that many of the perpetrators got off. with much less time than expected. Even. corrupt police officers who were exposed. of being in on the whole thing, they. were just either dismissed from their. positions and those were just the lower. ranking ones. The high-ranking officials. that were involved, they weren't even. dismissed. Nothing happened to them.

There wasn't even some sort of PR. statement of like, "We're going to. reorganize the police force and make. countermeasures set in place against. bribery and corruption." Nothing. Nothing. Yeah. Yeah. And all of the VIP clients, they. essentially got away with it, per se. And somehow even Kim, remember the. whistleblower who broke three ribs and. got punched in the face? He started the. Blue House petition, well, he gets. arrested, too. For allegedly sexually abusing three men. and harassing people inside the Burning.

Sun, which half the people argue Kim is. a wolf in sheep's clothing. He did good on whistleblowing the. Burning Sun, but he was probably. involved in some weird stuff, too. And a. lot of others believe, "No, it's just. fishy. Like, the allegations against him. are just fishy at this point." He was. sentenced to a year in prison. But, he says that he will be appealing. the decision. So, it seems like, minus. Kim, everyone else got off with a slap. on the wrist, with all things. considered. Unbelievable. The fact that. the guy's roaming around, living his.

best life. A lot of K-netizens think. that it has to do with Korean society of. victim-blaming. and shaming victims who come out for. crimes like this. Remember the Itaewon. case that we covered? We talked about. how some horrible people didn't feel. that bad for hundreds of victims who. died because they said, "Well, why would. they go out for a party for Halloween, anyway? It's not a good place for young, respectable people." A lot of families. of victims for Itaewon wanted their. names not to be made public because they. were scared that their loved ones would. be victim-blamed. And it was the similar.

case with Burning Sun. The victims were. scared to come forward because they. would have been blamed of, "Then, why. did you go to a club, then?" Yeah. "Well, that's just the risk you take as. a woman at a club." And because there. weren't really that many victims that. spoke forward at the court, speaking. directly on the case, they got off way too easy. I think the. only way to combat that is to for. societies to speak up more about to. support in support of victims, right?

Like that's the only way for other. people to realize you're so dumb by. saying that. Like. Yeah. Like we need to make it Yeah, we have to. keep talking about it to. to lift up the victims, yeah. Yeah. And. another thing was it's just a really. annoying in the justice system that you. would think drugging victims to essay. them makes the crime that much worse, right? Because now you're doing more. things to their body, but it actually. helps the perpetrators get away with it. in the eyes of the justice system. because you know what's justice, right?

It's a way for perpetrators to say she's. not credible because I her, but that's. not the point. And it's just insulting. and infuriating at this point. In other. case-related aftermath news, the hotel. on top of Burning Sun was shut down in. 2021. The building was sold to Hyundai. Construction and they are now going to. change it to be an apartment. The co-founder of YG, Mr. YG himself, stepped down as CEO of YG Entertainment, one of the big three entertainment. agencies in South Korea, because of this. scandal. It is stated that YG lost close.

to $100 million worth of investment. money because of the Burning Sun case, and recently Choi, one of the idols, was. released from prison as well, and. paparazzi found out which church he was. attending with his mom, and they stopped. him in the church parking lot to ask him. for an interview, and in the footage he. literally You can hear this man whining. for his mom. He's like, "Mom!" Like a. kid. When you're seven and a stranger. comes to the door to ask if you have. time to talk about the Lord and Savior, and you're like, "Mom!" That's what he.

sounds like. His mom walks up and starts. clucking away like some crazy mother. hen. She states, "He wants to live in. faith now. What do you want, paparazzi? Why are you making a big deal out of. nothing? Do you want to get punished by. God?".

And again, this is to show you the. family's character, not the character of. people who attend church or are are. religious. A lot of Christian netizens. were commenting, like these types of. people use religion as a way to shield. themselves from their own evil acts. Other netizens were just shocked by both. family members' behavior. They wrote, "Calling your mom like that at that age. is legendary, but the mom who pops up. and coddles over her son is even more. legendary.". And I will end you with this note. One.

chilling fact is, you know how a lot of. big K-pop groups have names for their. fans? So, Blackpink has Blinks, BTS fans. are Army. Big Bang's fans were called VIPs. They. made it to say that their fans are very. important people to them, but Seungri's. VIPs were not his fans. They were his guests. And I just hope with him being back in. the news with these scandals, Burning Sun is never forgotten because. how do you get away with something like. that? be able to to have anyone.

fawning over him or Yeah. Yeah, he. should never be. Yeah, never be able to make a comeback. He's just a. vile criminal. Yeah. So, what are your thoughts on the. Burning Sun? And let me know in the. comments. And. please be safe. I'll see you guys on. Sunday for the mini-sode. Bye.