Jung Joon-young Arrested in K-Pop Scandal

Published on 2019/03/22 | Source

Jung Joon-young arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday.

Singer Jung Joon-young was arrested on Thursday on charges of secretly filming himself having sex and sharing the footage with his celebrity buddies on social media.

The Seoul Central District Court granted the arrest warrant due to concerns that he could try to destroy evidence.

The singer read out a letter of apology as he entered the courthouse. "I have committed an unforgivable crime", it said. "I will fully cooperate with the investigation and live the rest of my life repenting my offenses".

Police also arrested Jung's lawyer on charges of destroying evidence. The lawyer defended Jung when he was charged with a similar offense back in 2016 and falsely told police that a tech lab was unable to recover any data from Jung's phone.

Police also suspended an officer who handled the case at the time. The officer allegedly asked Jung's lawyer if he could obtain a letter from the lab confirming that the data was irrecoverable to allow him to close the case.

Meanwhile, Choi Jong-hoon of boy band FT Island, who was part of another group chat that also included Seungri of boy band Big Bang, was indicted on charges of attempted bribery.

A police officer testified that Choi tried to give him W2 million to look the other way in 2016, when he was caught drunk driving (US$1=W1,129).

Seungri is being investigated on a raft of charges, from pimping to aiding and abetting drug peddling and sexual abuse at his swanky Gangnam nightclub Burning Sun.

The National Tax Service has launched a special probe of the now-defunct club, which frequently entertained rich Chinese customers.