SEX SCANDALS ROCK K-POP WORLD
SEOUL— A member of the South Korean K-pop band Big Bang who uses the stage name Seungri will leave the entertainment industry after his alleged sex bribery case swept the country, he said on Monday.
The decision came a day after he was charged with providing prostitutes to foreign investors in his private club, media said, driving down shares of his agency as much as 16 percent.
“It’s the right time to retire from show biz,” the 28-yearold singer said on Instagram.
The K-pop star, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, apologized to his fans and said he had been branded a “traitor to the nation.”
He denied procuring prostitutes last month when media said he had been involved in “sex bribery.”
Seungri made his official debut in August 2006, along with the group’s other four members: G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang and Daesung.
The scandal comes ahead of the singer’s mandatory military service, which all ablebodied South Korean men are required to complete.
All the other four group members are now serving in the military. On Friday, the agency said the singer would join the army this month.
Another singer and TV celebrity, Jung Joon-young, is also in trouble.
Jung admitted on Wednesday to having shared videos he secretly took while having sex with women.
He appeared at the same police station earlier on Thurs- day to help police with an investigation into suspicions he distributed the videos.
Jung’s agency, MakeUs Entertainment, has terminated his contract, and he has been barred from leaving the country while police question him.
Lee and Jung were both members of online chat groups, where secret sex tapes were shared, and men joked about drugging and raping women, according to broadcaster SBS.
A third performer, Yong Jun-hyung, expressed remorse in a post on Instagram about watching a sex video shared by Jung, and making inappropriate comments on it.
“I was stupid,” he said, while denying he made or shared any illegal recordings.
Yong’s agency, Around US Entertainment, said he would quit the boyband Highlight “to prevent the group’s reputation from being damaged.”