A Big Bang? That’s Far From How Seungri’s Career Ended

Brittany Kinlow | Posted on March 19, 2019

Yonhap News Via Newscom

Lee Seung Hyun, stage name Seungri, has retired from the kpop music industry. As a member of possibly the most widely popular kpop groups in South Korea, BIGBANG, many V.I.P’s (their fandom name) have been patiently waiting for some of the members to exit the military and looked forward to a possible comeback in a few years. Unfortunately, the V.I.P’s may never get what they were hoping for. Vocalist and lead dancer, Seungri, left the entertainment industry on March 11th, due to allegations against him.

A Big Bang? That’s Far From How Seungri’s Career Ended

Seungri (left) and Jung Joon Young (right)

Seungri operates a nightclub in Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea. Last week, he was booked during a raid, due to claims made that he was offering escorts for sex trafficking and prostitution. Seungri, however, denies these allegations and is currently under investigation by the police. Some evidence of these claims has been found, such as a video of a woman being dragged against her will to allegedly where the prostitution happens. She attempted to grab hold of things to keep from being brought there, and she tried to grab onto Seungri. He picked up his laptop and moved away from her. Earlier this week, the Seoul District Police received a confession in relation to the charges against Seungri. The details of this confession are still unknown to the public. Due to the circumstances, Seungri’s military enlistment for next week may be delayed.

Other popular kpop stars are also under investigation because of the sex trafficking incidents. For example, artist Jung Joon-Young also retired from kpop. He admitted to filming women in sexual situations without their consent and sending the videos to others in a chatroom. The police revealed that he recorded at least 10 videos between 2015-2016. There’s more that could’ve been done after those years. Jung Joon-Young has apologized for his actions, but netizens won’t accept it because it doesn’t condone his actions. Police are seeking to arrest him.

Other stars involved are Yong Jun-Hyung from Highlight, Choi Jong-Hoon from FT Island, and Lee Jong-Hyun from CNBlue.

With all of the scandals going on about sex trafficking, South Korea’s culture of toxic masculinity is being exposed. To many non-kpop fans/stans, looking at the kpop world, it may seem like South Korea has no toxic masculinity issues, but that is a false statement. Last year, the country’s #MeToo movement revealed thousands of women protesting hidden sex crimes. This has been an eye-opener about South Korea’s misogynistic culture and may help to end it.