Burning Sun Scandal: How Two Female Reporters And Late Idol Goo Hara Exposed K-pop’s Biggest Sex Crimes ( Photo Credit – Twitter )

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The K-pop genre has taken the world by storm, mesmerizing millions across the globe with its well-crafted music videos, high-energy performances, and, not to be missed, the irresistible charisma of the idols. However, what we see often differs from what it appears to be. Situations are direr than they seem, things are more dangerous than they look, and people are more horrifying and complex than they pretend to be. Such was the case with the Burning Sun scandal, also known as Burning Sun Gate, the dark truth of which was uncovered in 2019.

The tragedy that began way before it was brought to the public’s attention, was an entertainment and sex scandal in South Korea, which involved several celebrities, including K-pop idols of popular groups and police officials. A recent BBC Eye documentary titled ‘Burning Sun: Exposing the Secret K-pop Chat Groups brought one of the most sinister cases in the history of K-pop once again into the limelight. The documentary particularly highlighted the role of two female reporters, who risked everything to uncover the truth, and that of the late K-pop idol Goo Hara.

The Burning Sun scandal came into the limelight when MBC, a local broadcaster in South Korea, reported an assault case in Gangnam, a posh district in Seoul in January 2019. They revealed that a man named Kim Sang-kyo attended a party at the Burning Sun club in Yeoksam-dong two months prior in November when the club’s staff beat him up. The man informed the staff that he saw a girl slumped over, but the staff, instead of helping, dragged him outside the club and beat him up. Moreover, when he called the police, they handcuffed him instead. This incident snowballed into something more vicious, one that no one could ever imagine.