Three months after South Korean police launched an investigation into alleged rapes and drug use at Seoul’s infamous Burning Sun nightclub and the ties between police officers and the club owners, justice has still to be done, women’s groups say. To protest the injustice following the Burning Sun investigation, Netizens have flooded streets and compared it to the case of late actress Jang Ja-Yeon.
Former Big Bang member Seungri is alleged to have arranged sex services for Japanese investors in 2015, together with his business partner Yoo In-suk, a former head of Yuri Holdings. He is also suspected of paying for prostitution services in 2015. But on Tuesday night, a local court denied the arrest warrant for Seungri.
“The police report said there were no suspicious ties between the police and the sex industry, and no charges could be brought against superintendent Yoon,” the coalition announced during a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police agency. “Seungri and the other key figures of Burning Sun Gate can freely roam the streets. The result of this investigation shows how infallibly male power operates, and how easily women’s calls for justice are silenced.”
Burning Sun is at the center of the sex and drug scandals involving Seungri and other K-pop stars. The club closed down in February after it came under investigation over drug use, sexual violence and corrupt ties with the district police. But according to the court, charges of embezzlement were the result of lack of evidence for allegedly arranging of prostitute services for investors.
“None of the allegations, including those of cozy relations between police and nightlife establishments, illegal filming of women and spreading of such clips, have been resolved,” the coalition added. “The police should not regard the Burning Sun scandal as an illegal act at one club; they should make a thorough investigation to eradicate the industry exploiting women and female sexuality.”
Almost none of the key players in what the groups refer to as the country’s “rape business cartel” were held accountable, which is why netizens call for rallies over the weekend to warrant stronger government action over the Burning Sun Scandal.
A former Green Party candidate for Seoul mayor, Shin Ji-ye, said that the disturbingly familiar pattern is observed after the investigation result.
“It was the same 10 years ago in the sexual abuse case of the late actress Jang Ja-Yeon,” Shin Ji-ye told a press reporter. “Key male suspects in power all got away and in the end, just the entertainment agency head and two managers got slaps on the wrist on charges of physical violence. If such kinds of investigations continue to be the norm, Korea will be nothing more than a kingdom of rape run by powerful insiders.”
