Two
K-Pop stars have been jailed in
South Korea after being found guilty of a sex attack on a woman.
Singer-songwriter Jung Joon-young, 30, received a six-year
prison term and former boy band member Choi Jong-hoon, also 30, a five-year term.
The Seoul Central District Court said the pair were convicted of “special quasi-raping”, which it said means multiple people collaborating to have illegal sexual intercourse with a person who was unconscious or unable to resist.Jung was additionally convicted of filming sex videos of women against their will and sharing the footage with friends in a group chat.
The two men were also ordered to undergo 80 hours of sex offender treatment programmes. They have one week to appeal.
“The defendants are well-known celebrities and friends, but the chat they’ve had showed that they simply considered women as objects of sexual pleasure, and committed crimes that were extremely serious,” Judge Kang Seong-soo said as he handed down the verdict.
“Strict punishment is inevitable as the damage inflicted has not properly been recovered and the victims demand harsh penalties.”
The scandals have drawn attention to the darker side of the country’s lucrative entertainment industry.
South Korean pop songs, TV dramas and films are hugely popular in Asia and beyond, but the country’s entertainment world has in recent years suffered a series of sexual scandals that revealed its dark side.
Male stars have faced allegations of sexual assault and abuse and reports have been made that female entertainers and trainees have been forced to provide sexual services to men in power.
Lee Seung-hyun, a former member of K-pop group Big Bang better known by the stage name Seungri, is also on trial over accusations he paid for prostitutes for foreign businessmen to drum up investment in his business.
On Sunday, K-pop musician and actress Goo Hara was found dead at her home in Seoul.
Before her death, she suffered cyber bullying after she was engaged in a public dispute with her former boyfriend, who she said threatened to disclose a sex video of her.
Last month, another K-pop star Sulli was discovered dead at her home. She had spoken against the online backlash she received over her lifestyle.Related... A Huge Sex Video Scandal Has Rocked K-Pop, Korea's Famously Clean-Cut Music Export South Korean Choir G-Voice Helps Gay Men Find Their Voice K-Pop Superstars BTS Announce 'Extended Break' To Live More Normal Lives