HyunA and former Highlight member Jong Junhyung have revealed their relationship by sharing a lovestagram. This news has resurfaced the Buring Sun Scandal that shocked the South Korean entertainment industry.
It began in November 2018, when a man named Kim Sang Kyo was reportedly assaulted at the Burning Sun, a Gangnam club owned by ex-BIGBANG‘s Seungri, for helping a woman who was being se*ually harassed.
This incident was captured on the CCTV camera and led to an investigation into the club that uncovered a shocking web of crimes, including gambling, drug distribution, and se*ual assault.
Simultaneously, a group chat involving Seungri, Jung Joon Young, Yong Junhyun, and Choi Jonghoon who shared and secretly filmed illegal explicit videos was disclosed which became entangled with the scandal.
Where Are All The Burning Sun Scandal Elites In 2024
1. Jong Junhyung
The former member of the boy group HIGHLIGHT became a witness for the group chat after watching a secretly filmed illegal video that Jung Joon Young shared with him. He also admitted to speaking “inappropriately” but denied filming or sending any illegal content himself.
OH MY GOD HYUNA AND JUNHYUNG????????? pic.twitter.com/wUpabca00A
— nat (@minizues) January 18, 2024
After the scandal, he departed from his group and vanished from the spotlight until 2022, when he announced a solo concert LONER’s ROOM, supported by his latest album Loner. The album and concert were postponed after the Seoul Halloween crowd crush incident.
Since then he has released various projects including POST IT (Feat. Xion), Til’ the End, and Fall Into Blue. Recently, he also announced his relationship with solo artist HyunA through their lovestagram posts.
2. Jung Joon Young
The former singer-songwriter and convicted serial rapist owned the disgraced chatroom which was discovered after he took his phone to a repair shop. He initially received a six-year imprisonment sentence over gang r*pe, illegal filming, and sharing of explicit videos.
Meanwhile, his fellow serial rapist Jung Joon-young will reportedly be released from prison in just over 2 months, on March 20, 2024.
If it's anything like the Seungri fans, he's sure to have fans left. pic.twitter.com/CheHVB2vhV
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) January 15, 2024
The sentence was later reduced to five years after he submitted documents expressing guilt and remorse about his crime. As per the latest reports his sentence is reduced even more and he is expected to be released on March 20, 2024 instead of late 2025.
3. Choi Jong Hoon
The former member of the band FTISLAND was initially sentenced to five years imprisonment for participating in two different gang r*pe. The sentence was later reduced to two years and six months after he settled with his victims.
#FTIsland's #ChoiJongHoon resurfaces in the Japanese entertainment scene via a fan platform after serving time for sexual assault. pic.twitter.com/vozh6lta5v
— K-Drama Handle (@kdramahandle) January 15, 2024
He completed his jail term in 2021 and remained away from the entertainment industry for a while. He was last captured attending church service with his mother by the Korean news outlet The Fact in 2021, in an encounter that turned physical.
Following this he has recently launched his channel HUNIYA, on Japan’s Fanicon platform. In the first appearance he has after a five-year hiatus he greeted his followers by sharing that he wishes to continue ahead by uploading his plans and personal life.
4. Seungri
The former BIGBANG member and owner of Burning Sun club was initially sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for nine charges, including prostitution, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, violating food safety laws, habitual gambling, and violating the foreign exchange law.
https://twitter.com/MademoiselleSLH/status/1748125900535689708?t=9pNNLGZTO-C7PFxGmnsGbA&s=19
He was also accused of being active in the chatroom where the members rated the women with whom they had physical relations and shared an explicit image that he found online. He was released in 2023 after an 18-month sentence and was reported visiting clubs.
In the same year, many netizens debunked the case stating that Seungri was not directly involved as a perpetrator in the Burning Sun Scandal or the Jung Joon Young chatrooms. He has retired from the industry after the scandal.
5. Lee Jonghyun
A former CNBLUE member participated in the discussions about women in the chatroom. He initially denied any sort of involvement in the case but later admitted to watching the content shared by Jung Joon Young.
https://twitter.com/ColombA_tiny/status/1747679131066593583?t=dtZnVdy98rRXP9bxAOQWIw&s=19
Jonghyun departed from his group and enlisted in mandatory military service. He has since been discharged (in 2020) but stayed out of the limelight and even deleted his social media accounts.
Many netizens believe that his surname caused confusion leading to Seungri becoming the center of the whole scandal while some of his avid fans are continuing to support him by sharing fanmade content.
6. Roy Kim
The solo ballad singer was found guilty of sharing and watching illegally filmed s*x cams although it was later revealed that it wasn’t related to the Jung Joon Young chatrooms. After his name was cleared he briefly returned to the industry in 2020 before enlisting in the military. Since then he has resumed his career by releasing music and holding concerts.
로이킴 (Roy Kim) – 살아가는 거야 LIVE CLIP (@ 2023 로이킴 콘서트 Roy Note)
▶ https://t.co/LUM8okD0Jz#로이킴 #RoyKim#RoyNote #살아가는거야 pic.twitter.com/aGUy0PkH7K
— 로이킴 (Roy Kim_Official) (@official_roykim) January 18, 2024
7. Eddy Kim
The solo singer-songwriter was accused of being part of the scandal and “circulating obscene material” which was later dismissed by the prosecution. It was revealed that he downloaded and watched one illegally filmed cam/image and shared it in some other chatroom.
Ever since Eddy Kim has distanced himself from the public’s eyes by only sporadically updating his Instagram. His last post was almost a year ago featuring him covering Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez.
