Burning Sun: Exposing the secret K-pop chat groups - BBC World Service Documentaries

Intro In South Korea, K-Pop stars have fame, fortune and millions of female fans. But some led a double life. A hidden world where videos of women being drugged, raped and humiliated were shared. There was a room deep in the club. Whatever were to happen in there you wouldn't hear anything. Their crimes would never have been revealed, had secret messages between them not been leaked. This is the story of those who tried to bring them to justice. After coming back home I was in shock. Should I begin with the police collusion? The sexual assaults? Or the illegal filming? I didn't know where to start. It was overwhelming. Hey, friend. My name is Kang Kyung-yoon. If you ask me why I became an entertainment journalist, I feel that what's happening in this industry is like a microcosm of our society. Money, power, women, sex... The more I work in this field, the more I see the bottom of the pit. Society's true face. The fuze that ignited this scandal was a K-Pop star caught secretly filming a woman. A crime known as Molka. 'Molka' is a word that only exists in Korean. What is 'molka'? The correct term is illegally filmed footage. A woman who is unaware is captured in a situation where she can feel humiliation. There are so many places where molka could happen. In public places like changing rooms or toilets. It can be taken between people in a relationship in order to destroy someone's life. Once filmed, it can be distributed. I am journalist Park Hyo-sil. I was the first reporter to break the story that Jung Jung Joon-young accused of molka was accused of a sexual offence on September 23, 2016. The tip-off we received was that Jung secretly filmed his girlfriend and she accused him of molka. Jung had risen to fame as a singer songwriter, self releasing love ballads like “Amy’. He had an edgier image than the typical K-Pop star. He was critically acclaimed and hugely popular with female fans. I published the story on Friday evening at 10:50pm as breaking news. Following that, many media outlets went into a frenzy to corroborate the story. If we call her by the alias Kyung-mi. While they were having sex at his house Jung filmed molka and Kyung-mi caught him in the act. Concerned that the video might be distributed Kyung-mi later reported the incident as molka. Two days later, Jung is questioned by the police. During the investigation a major issue arose when he didn't give his phone to the police. Had he submitted his phone to the police they would have run a forensics test Maybe he was worried that deleted files could be restored. That's why he consulted his lawyer and left his phone with a private forensics company. On finding the phone is with a forensics lab, the police asked for a report rather than looking at the phone themselves. It became clear the investigation was rushed with the intention of simply closing the case. A recording of Jung's lawyer putting pressure on the forensics lab was later leaked. We talked with the police and they'll be there soon. The reason I called is it doesn't matter to us whether it can be restored or not but the police suggested it would be best to say it's impossible to restore. It's just an unnecessary legal case. Jung's agency hastily calls a press conference to clear his name. I never imagined that what was supposed to be a joke between the two of us would become public and develop into such a big scandal. I was wrong to think that everything would go away if I was innocent. Public opinion framed Jung as the innocent victim. This created a narrative where the media was the villain and I bore the brunt of it. Jung's phone is never checked by the police, and he thinks he is in the clear. What he didn't know is that a carbon copy had been made of his phone data. Three years later, someone with access to the data decides to leak it. It eventually reaches journalist Kang. The KakaoTalk material I received contained Jung's chat messages that he shared between 2015 and 2016. The data leak Jung's phone data showed he was in a chat group with male friends on popular Messenger app KakaoTalk. Hey, friend. My heart still hurts when I think of that group chat. I had no idea it would be that serious. I had thought that the issue would be whether the molka of Kyung-mi from 2016 was in there as was reported in the media. The video of Kyung Mi wasn't there. But Kang did find many other videos of Jung with women. And began to recognise other famous faces too. This video shows Jung encouraging a girl to drink alcohol with his fellow K-Pop star, Choi Jong-hoon. Choi, do it again. It was ******* sexy. It was ******* sexy, that kiss. - Really? - Yes. - It was ******* sexy. - I don't want to. - Do it just one more time. Choi Jong-hoon led the K-Pop rock band FT Island. He played lead guitar and was given centre stage in their stadium concerts. Choi, inside that chatroom, was just like Jung incredibly obsessed with women. but in terms of power relationships, he was obedient. He rarely initiated anything. He did what Seungri told him to do. Meet Choi Jong-hoon and Seungri The biggest celebrity in the chat group was megastar Seungri. He had become famous in the K-Pop supergroup Big Bang, and also had a solo career. Branding himself the Jay Gatsby of Korea, his party lifestyle was recorded in slick promo videos. Like Gatsby from the film ©The Great Gatsby', he succeeded at a young age and was one of the few in the country who could throw the grandest of parties. So he nicknamed himself 'Seungstby' and likened himself to Gatsby. Kang begins going through the KakaoTalk messages chronologically, tracking the secret life of the celebrity friends. The data starts in late 2015, as Seungri hosts a series of parties to celebrate his birthday. Global investment in the business plan Seungri has invited potential business partners and warns Jung to be on his best behaviour. Seungri had investors in Japan in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China too. So, when he went there, with his reputation, he was able to make contact with the wealthiest people and he saw a major business opportunity. I think Seungri thought "I could really become one of the richest men in Korea". Seungri was using women as a tool to get investment from wealthy people. A month later, Jung, Choi, and four other chat group members go skiing in a resort near Seoul. This promotional film shows off the five star facilities. A pattern of exploitation It's in KakaoTalk messages from this trip that Kang sees evidence of serious sexual assault. Choi and Jung's group invited some of Choi's female friends to a ski resort. They shared drinks together. And the women say that not long after the drinks, they lost almost all their memory. At 8 p.m., a friend of Seungri uploads a video to the chat group to share with Seungri, who was not on the trip. In that situation, several illegally filmed items emerged. One was a photo taken from the first floor looking down onto the ground floor another was a video of a man and woman having sex filmed from behind, through an open door, like it was a joke. The images appear to show the rape of unconscious women by another chat group member, a friend of Jung and Choi. I had enough suspicion the women were completely unaware. However, I didn't understand how they took this, who the victims were, and why these men took such photos. That was a question for me. Kang begins to see a pattern of abuse. She finds messages from two months later that directly incriminate two of the K-Pop stars in sexual crimes. An incident took place in March 2016 when Jung had a fan signing event in Daegu. The day before at a nearby hotel One woman was raped while she was unconscious. The woman had been gang raped by Jung and Choi. With other friends and members of the chat group present. They say, 'she was so drunk she almost cracked her head'. Most of their fans are female but these chats had exposed the real face of these men who were projecting a gentle image. But those faces weren't simple or plain they were so disgusting, playing around with women as if they were toys, and incapacitating them to insult them. to loathe them. They were bragging and sniggering about that as if they were trophies. As Kang trolls further through the KakaoTalk messages, she finds clues as to why this group felt above the law. There are two parts to Jung's chatrooms. One is the sexual violence by Jung and his friends. The second is suspected police collusion. Choi of FT Island had been caught drink driving but a police officer had protected him. When I saw that, my legs shook. You couldn't help but think there was a very powerful police officer behind Seungri and his friends. Inside this world, Seungri was like the boss. The friends share this video of Seungri with a woman at a party. Gangnam nightlife and the business of assault Seungri’s membership of one of the biggest K-Pop groups, Big Bang, gives him enormous influence. You have to be respectful. - Do you want me to be respectful to you? We should be respectful about everything. - Yes. Look, I might be a member of Big Bang but here in this setting... - I know, you're so nice. Really nice. He believed that if he uttered a word, people in Korea, China and America would move for him. And at the very least that the Gangnam club scene would move for him. Gangnam is a district of Seoul. A city that¹s very different by day and by night. By day, there are fancy restaurants and many big companies. By night, there are many clubs and lounge bars and adult entertainment establishments. Seungri is using his contacts with police and investors to become a major player in the lucrative business of Gangnam nightclubs. According to the KakaoTalk chats, someone named the Police Prosecutor General is helping protect their businesses. Seungri partners with a rich businessman from the chat group and gets his famous friends involved. With Jung and Choi they created their own drinking establishment called Mildang Pocha. Many people visited the place and I understand sales were incredibly high. Within days of the opening, Jung was recording Molka on the premises. Sharing it in a direct message with another friend. It's at this point in time, August 2016 that Jung's phone data ends. As victim Kyung-Mi makes her initial complaint of Molka and he gives his phone to the forensics lab. But the police don't check his messages and he's exonerated. The cost of reporting Park, who first reported on Jung's case, is attacked by his fans and men calling themselves anti-feminist. The first wave of attacks came as comments and malicious emails. After about six months, I started receiving phone calls in the early hours, around 2am, and they would continue for about three to four hours until 5am. When I didn't answer the phone, they started sending obscene images and expletives through Messenger. At the time, I was pregnant, and I was in such shock. I was so mentally shattered that even going out of the house was difficult. After that, I had two miscarriages and now I am childless. It was so difficult, but I couldn't quit because I felt like if I did, they would win. and many other female journalists could suffer the same damage. So I thought I should endure this time. Seeing that in real time was so painful to watch. And when I later came to report on the Jung case I definitely worried about getting attacked by fans in the same way or perhaps even worse, and didn't know if I could bear it. The VIP client experience The friends ambitions continue unchecked. Love moves in mysterious ways? No, love is just moving a finger. Seungri does a lucrative deal to become the face of Tinder in South Korea. Let's meet up for real. And he plans his boldest business venture yet: to launch the biggest club in Gangnam. But as director, he will need investment. In December 2017, he hires an island in the Philippines for his birthday party. There was an event where Seungri took a dozen young women from Korea to a resort in Palawan, the Philippines. He invited wealthy people he wanted investment from to that party. He received huge investments through those connections and opened Burning Sun, the largest club in Gangnam at the time. The club was located in Le Meridien Hotel in Gangnam. Now derelict. When it opened, Burning Sun was the most prestigious nightclub in South Korea. Former employees spoke to us on the condition we concealed their identities. They were MDs, short for merchandises, who would make sure there were girls in the club to cater to VIP guests. We would meet the guests or VIPs at the entrance and go down the stairs. It's not brightly lit, but if you keep going into the dark, you'll find the main bar. From there, we would escort the guests to the stage area, while the VIPs were taken directly to their tables. I didn't have to worry about high-paying VIPs. They brought their own bodyguards. We heard a club was opening at Le Meridien, and Seungri was going to run it, so we were all looking forward to it. Burning Sun was special because the CEO, Seungri, was a DJ there which attracted many female guests and more men reserved tables. Ko Eunsang is a reporter who was one of the first to investigate Burning Sun. In order to book these tables, you'd have to pay a minimum $1500 $7500 at the weekend. At an event like Halloween or Christmas, from thousands to tens of thousands, to even $75,000 for a table. Dozens of girls line up and come in, lighting up fireworks and cheering, with the billboard showing that this is the one who bought a $75,000 package. Because the VIPs pay that much money to come in, right? They obviously expect something extra. 'I've spent this much money' 'What pleasure can you give me in return?' So they started making secret spaces for just the VIPs. To attract male customers, MDs take pictures of pretty women who are drunk, secretly, without their permission, and send them to the VIPs. MDs Use KakaoTalk to communicate throughout the club. [The date rape drug] GHB was used a lot. Normally, the customers that used it were in private rooms. There was a room incredibly deep in the club. There were lots of guards outside the room and whatever happened in there, no-one would hear a thing. I saw women unconscious after being given GHB at Burning Sun almost every day. One VIP client I met told me that if a VIP client picked out a woman and said: 'Bring that woman to me’, they did whatever needed to be done to her to make her unconscious. The VIP would then take her up to the hotel or get a car to a different location. A young woman who was a regular guest at Burning Sun agreed to speak to us about her experiences. We are protecting her identity. When I went to Burning Sun, we would get a table for ourselves, all girls. It was after I’d had one or two drinks, perhaps? I went to the toilet with my friend and said: 'I feel weird today, I'm getting drunk really quickly.' 'I think I shouldn't drink anymore.' Then we came back to our seats. But then suddenly I woke up on a bed. She found herself in a hotel room with a man who had given her drinks at Burning Sun. Then he suddenly ran at me and forced my clothes off. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth, and I tried not to get attacked so I keep trying to get up, right? And from above, he kept sitting on me and pressing me down. Because I was screaming, he covered my mouth with both hands. He kept shoving me down, as if he was giving me CPR. I couldn't breathe. My mouth hurt so much, but because he was sitting on me, my ribs were hurting too. However much I struggled, it didn¹t work. So I gave up. I felt like he was going to kill me. I was in so much pain, but he wouldn't stop and he kept trying to do the deed. So I just gave up and just lay there. I felt so sick. I grabbed the rubbish bin and vomited. I vomited and... I knelt down on the floor and begged. I begged him to send me home. I said I missed my mum so much. I cried and begged. He said he'd let me go if I take a photo. He told me to smile but I couldn't. I wanted to cover my face. Because he didn’t let me, I just made a peace sign. Then I rushed out. But my memory of that is hazy. She goes to the police to report rape. The man claims they had consensual sex using the photo as evidence. He was allowed to leave Korea. In that secretive space, The 'dark fortress' - a secretive space things you could barely imagine were happening, but no-one could know. It gradually became their very own dark fortress. The main reason why so many incidents happened in Gangnam clubs was because the police did not enter to deal with the incidents. People I interviewed who worked at the clubs said they gave cash to the police to try to cover up the incidents. In January 2019, Seungri 's empire is dealt a public blow. A customer at Burning Sun makes allegations he'd been beaten up by club staff and that police had stood by. CCTV from outside The club shows him being beaten in the street. A customer in his 20s was assaulted by security guards at a club. His ribs were severely injured, but the police who were dispatched did not arrest the people who attacked him, but arrested the victim. The red bathroom CCTV footage emerges of a woman being dragged from the club by staff. As these problems kept emerging, the Burning Sun situation snowballed out of control. Then, a shocking case of Molka surfaces, filmed inside Burning Sun and known as the Red Bathroom video. It goes viral on porn sites. One of my team members told me that a VIP customer went into the room and asked him to take a video with him. They filmed it together, but now it's spreading around. He was worried it could become a problem. In that video, the girl had a completely blank expression and was completely naked. Because so many videos and photos like that were being taken and shared, I didn't really think of it as being a big deal at the time. Under pressure from the police and the media, the management of Burning Sun are forced into a decision. An official of Burning Sun has revealed that, due to internal circumstances, Burning Sun will cease operations from tomorrow. Seungri pauses a solo concert to make a statement to his fans. For all the incidents that arose due to my shortcomings, for making many fans worried, disappointed and causing them concern, I'm really sorry. Actually, last year, while I was running my business, there were certain images that were shown on TV, which gave me a nickname. A lot of people called me Seungtsby. I think I wasn't humble enough. Burning Sun closing down was... Seungri likened himself to Gatsby, right? So, it felt like Seungtsby¹s kingdom closing its doors. Kang knows the phone data from The Informant, which incriminates Seungri and his friends, could now become a huge story. I was carrying out the investigation while I was pregnant and my morning sickness was horrendous. Every time I saw Jung's chatrooms, I went to the toilet every 10 minutes to vomit and then came back. I didn't tell my colleagues. I didn't tell my family, not even my husband. I kept it to myself. My husband knew I was pregnant, but even he didn't know about this investigation at the time. It was a huge secret. I was at the most important point in my life with what was happening inside my body, but I had to get on with it. Since we couldn’t know how it would turn out, it was a difficult time. I felt lonely and exhausted. The lawyer meets the journalists My name is Bang Jeong-hyun. I am a lawyer in South Korea. The first time I came across this group chatroom was when an anonymous informant left the USB drives containing the files in our office’s post box. This was forensic data from the mobile phone of the Korean singer Jung. There was a need to make it public through the media. That's how I came to collaborate with reporter Kang. Kang then talks to her employers SBS, a leading Korean broadcaster. They agree she'll begin by publishing a story on Seungri, citing evidence from an unnamed celebrity's phone and showing he procured prostitutes for investors in clubs. I wondered if people would trust me. An entertainment journalist reporting on something as important as this. Will there be credibility? I was very worried. It immediately becomes major news. Within hours, Seungri arrives at a police station for voluntary questioning. This morning, I submitted a petition to the police asking for a thorough investigation on me. In order for all these allegations to be resolved as soon as possible, I will cooperate in this investigation with sincerity. What about prostitution and drug allegations in Burning Sun? He is interrogated for almost 9 hours. Hara assists the investigation There is now huge speculation about which celebrity’s phone the evidence was from. But Kang is still trying to corroborate other key evidence. The messages that imply the stars have a senior police contact. The person who appears in the KakaoTalk group chatroom as police, who on earth is that person? That was such an important point. It was the most unsolvable problem. Then Hara appeared and opened the door for me. Hara was a successful solo artist and member of K-Pop band Kara. She was famous beyond Korea, recording hits like “Wild in Japanese”. Her image was streetwise and independent. I still remember that day and her voice saying: ‘Reporter, it's Hara.’ She said: ‘I really want to help you.’ I was so grateful. Hara and Choi had been close since their debut. Hara also knew Seungri and Jung too. She told me that because she was friends with them, she’d seen them on their mobile phones before, and she said: ‘They’ve got some really weird things on there.’ 'What you said was right.’ She asked me: 'How can I help?' So I spoke honestly. I need to know about that police officer, but there's no way to know. So could you help with that? Then Hara called Choi and asked that question for me. I'm Hara's older brother, Hoin. My sister Hara and Choi had been close friends since their training days. So she persuaded him to tell journalist Kang what he knew. When my sister spoke to Choi on speakerphone I was listening next to her The senior police contact She said: 'Choi, I can help you.’ 'Tell this reporter everything that you know.’ Kang records the phone conversation she has with Choi. She asks him to identify the officer referred to as the Police Prosecutor General in the messages. It seems like he must know someone very high up. Yes, yes. We actually met once and played a round of golf together. I've heard he's currently at the presidential residence. He did work for the police. Choi told me that the Police Prosecutor General was not a fictional character, but a real person, a police officer called Yoon Kyu-keun who also had worked at the presidential residence. Hara had helped Choi admit it. Hara was a very brave woman. She also said to me 'I am also a victim of revenge porn.’ Hara had been a victim of Molka the previous year. She had reported her boyfriend to the police for threatening to release intimate photos of her. I remember he threatened her, saying: 'I will end your celebrity career.’ My sister had become the singer she'd always dreamed she could be. She was worried she'd lose everything. She was scared this would go public. She was on her knees, begging him not to do it. Security footage from Hara’s building goes viral, showing her boyfriend in the lift, and Hara apparently begging him not to publish the photos. On that CCTV, seeing that top star who had shone on stage, kneeling before a man and begging him not to publish them, made my heart break. Hara was desperate because she knew she could lose everything. Haras boyfriend was eventually convicted for assault and blackmail. Now, Hara had given Kang what she needed for her investigation. Within 48 hours, Kang publishes her two biggest stories, which make headline news. The police have launched an investigation into Jung Joon-young for allegedly illegally filming and distributing sex videos. Accountability and arrests He was filming abroad at the time. When my story broke, he returned to Korea and was arrested straight away. Is the reported KakaoTalk content true? I'm sorry. Do you have anything to say to the victims? Do you want to say anything to the viewers and your fans? Do you accept the charges? In the KakaoTalk chatrooms involving Seungri and Jung, Senior Superintendent Yoon of the National Police Agency, referred to as the 'Police Prosecutor General’, has been suspended. I feel I have done a disservice to the police force. Former FT Island member Choi has been remanded as a suspect. Choi has been accused of sharing illegal video in the chat room and of colluding with the police. If we talk about the characteristics of this case, the fact that the victims were unaware they were victims was the main characteristic, because they were victims of molka. The situation was the victims were anxious and so they came forward to make contact. So it was like this: 'I hung out with them during that period.' 'I met up with them.' 'Am I in there too?' More victims come forward Just days after the K-Pop stars are outed, someone contacts Kang. The woman from Jung's fan signing event in Daegu. The victim was a woman who had been gang raped by Jung and Choi, but she was unaware of what she'd suffered at the time. So I went with lawyer Bang and met her and asked her if she wanted to press charges. After confirming an assault had taken place, she said she wanted to press charges. So, a lot of contacts came through in that way. Among them, six victims came forward and wanted to press charges. Their main shared reaction was: 'Did it get distributed?' Anxiety around this was so big. This is a shared concern of all molka victims. Not being able to give a definitive answer on that was so frustrating. Bang becomes the pro-bono lawyer for five anonymous victims. He launches a court case against Jung, Choi and others in the group for Molka and Rape. Women protest for further protection Until the police do their job properly... As more arrests are made, the scandal is becoming increasingly divisive, stoking Korea's tense gender politics. Women hold a series of protests calling for the police to do more to protect them. For women, everywhere we go feels like the club Burning Sun. Some men claim they're being unfairly targeted by feminists. A warrant examination for Lee, CEO of Burning Sun, will take place this morning. Lee, Seungri’s friend and business partner, said in an interview that if Seungri's KakaoTalk messages from three years ago are a crime then aren't all Korean men criminals? Since publishing the stories, Kang has been heavily trolled. What those fans gave me were deeply personal attacks. At the time, I was pregnant, right? So they called me femi*****, pregnant femi*****. left-wing femi*****. using my name, putting those sort of nicknames. I was harassed for three years. Hara's personal crisis K-Pop star Hara had been instrumental in enabling Kang to expose police collusion with the stars. But now she faces a personal crisis. Her close friend Sulli, another K-Pop star who had spoken up for feminism in Korea, has just taken her own life. Sulli unfortunately passed away. Hara had been performing in Japan at the time. She turned on her Instagram Live and seemed incredibly unstable, crying and saying things like: 'Sulli, I’m so sorry. I’ll go to your funeral at all costs.’ But there were a lot of malicious comments on that live video stream too. 'Why are you using your friend’s death for your own popularity?' This kind of stuff. I can't sleep. I woke up. That image of her felt like a certain signal to me that day. I was detecting huge danger. So I sent her a text. 'Hara, you're such a brave woman and so admirable.' 'I want you to be happy.' Hara then sent back a text, quite brightly saying 'Hello reporter, I'm okay. Yes, I'll stay strong' So I was relieved. I recall Hara’s last Instagram post was a black background with just the word 'Goodnight'. After my sister’s funeral, we came home ..my wife revealed she was pregnant. My sister grew up under our paternal aunt, so I think she wanted to become an aunt too. I cried so much on my own then. I was so sad. If she'd just waited a few more days If she hadn't made that choice she'd have become an aunt. The sentencing Five days after Hara’s death, the court sentences Jung to six years for the gang rape in Daegu and for taking and distributing Molka. Jung was brought back into the spotlight after three years and my report began to gain attention again. I went on a radio programme to give an interview. Many comments were posted about my interview and most of them apologised to me. Some even admitted to unwittingly leaving malicious comments at the time and expressed sympathy for what I went through. The Jung case brought me great disgrace and made me feel I was unqualified to be a journalist. I was so happy when my reputation was restored. I was more proud than anything else. I'm sorry. Choi is sentenced to two and a half years for his part in the Daegu gang rape. Senior Inspector Yoon, the Police Prosecutor General in the chat, was acquitted of all charges related to the chat group members. Seungri is convicted of obtaining prostitutes for investors, embezzlement, Molka and inciting violence. He was sentenced to 18 months on appeal. The future of Sex and Power Despite the convictions of such high profile K-Pop stars, former club staff tell us little has changed in Gangnam. Burning Sun. There is no difference between Burning Sun and current clubs. What happened back then is still happening now. Though there was lots of coverage about GHB, they are still using it in my club. Some women from the Burning Sun scandal never made it to court. When I think about my case, I don’t anticipate that justice will be served. It’s just a wish. Though I think I'm fine, when I talk about it, I get tearful. I don't think I'm sad anymore, but I get tearful. And it's difficult, but I think I should speak up when I can because people need to know that’s the way to stop there being more victims. I want the perpetrator to forever blame himself and feel guilty. Three years later, Kang is still being trolled for her role in exposing the crimes of the three K-Pop stars. I think I’ve merely thrown a single pebble into a huge pond. So, there may not have been a huge wave, but against the issues around sex and power, that have been accepted for decades, I think it made a single warning against them, though the pond seems to have calmed down again. This is actually the first time I’ve uttered a word about this. There was a photo, that I did not want taken at all, captured of me. And later, when I knew I'd been photographed, I snatched that phone and pressed delete. I was at university, so it's 20 years ago, but the fear that it may spread to the outside world was so great. I think I always live with that anxiety.