Netizens Discuss Involvement of Yong Jun-hyung, Zico & Lee Chul-woo in Burning Sun Scandal Re-examination

On May 19th, BBC News Korea published a video titled “Burning Sun: Exposing the secret K-pop chat groups” that revealed the involvement of former BIGBANG member Seungri in the Burning Sun Scandal, the sexual assault and illegal filming committed by former F.T. Island member Choi Jong-hoon, and the controversial group chat involving Jung Joon-young.

Upon further investigation into the Burning Sun Scandal, the public continued to express disapproval towards Hyuna’s boyfriend, Yong Jun-hyung.

It has been reported that in 2015, Yong Jun-hyung engaged in a private chat conversation with Jung Joon-young and received an illegal video from him. He then proceeded to make inappropriate comments. As a result of this issue, Yong Jun-hyung withdrew from his group HIGHLIGHT and later enlisted in the military. He was discharged in November 2020 and returned to the entertainment industry in 2022. In a statement, Yong Jun-hyung clarified that he did not participate in any of Jung Joon-young’s group chats. However, despite not facing legal consequences, he faced criticism from the public for not taking action against such criminal acts.

The criticism towards Hyuna increased due to the revelation that she is the current girlfriend of Yong Jun-hyung, who is also the ex-lover of Goo Ha-ra. This was further exacerbated by the recent BBC documentary on Burning Sun, which prompted netizens to express disappointment on Hyuna’s social media accounts. It was also noted that Hyuna and Goo Ha-ra used to be close friends, which added to the scrutiny of her relationship with Yong Jun-hyung.

Once again, Zico was called out by the public. In 2016, during his appearance on MBC’s “Radio Star” , Zico caused a commotion when he disclosed that Jung Joon-young owned a “golden mobile phone”. According to Zico, this phone was only used for messaging during emergencies and contained contacts of many individuals, similar to a “Pokemon’s guidebook”. In retaliation, Jung Joon-young retorted, claiming that Zico had visited his house and thoroughly examined the “golden phone”as if it were his own.

Therefore, netizens were skeptical about the contents of Jung Joon-young’s “golden phone”that Zico had seen. In response, Zico clarified, “I have no involvement in the unpleasant incident. I only saw a list of his acquaintances’ contacts and we haven’t been in touch for a while.”

Upon further examination of Jung Joon-young’s actions, some netizens raised questions such as, “If Jung Joon-young was already attempting to conceal evidence, such as disposing of his ‘golden phone’, how could Zico claim to have only seen numbers and nothing else?”and “Did you not become aware of Jung Joon-young’s crime after reading his personal messages?”

Moreover, Lee Chul-woo, who was previously a model and is now an actor, also faced the need to address speculations about his involvement in Jung Joon-young’s controversial group chat. On May 20th, he strongly reiterated, “I want to emphasize once again that I was not a member of the group chat that contained illegal content.”He went on to clarify, “The group chat I was a part of was solely for coordinating schedules and sharing necessary information for an entertainment program I participated in back in 2016.”He also expressed his frustration, stating, “Not only myself, but my family and friends have also been subjected to hurtful comments due to false accusations that have been circulating for years.”

In 2019, when suspicions arose about his involvement in the Burning Sun group chat, the actor immediately denied any involvement through his agency. The agency released a statement saying, “We would like to clarify that Lee Chul-woo is not a member of the controversial group chat and has never filmed or shared illegal videos.”

In the meantime, the BBC’s documentary on the Burning Sun Scandal is becoming increasingly popular among K-pop fans around the world.