Kpop And Korean Drama Stars Accused Of Sexual Assault In 2016 — Why Does This Keep Happening To Hallyu Entertainers?

Kpop and Korean dramas create fantasy worlds that millions of fans have fallen in love and become obsessed with. But there’s a dark reality to the entertainment industry that isn’t often talked about. There are kpop and kdrama stars who have been accused of sexual assault.

While many of these stars have had the charges dropped and their names cleared, it’s a troubling stain on the largely pristine public image that Korean entertainment offers the world. Here is a list of some of the kpop and kdrama stars who have been accused of sexual assault in 2016.

Park Yoochun

According to Bitbag , Kpop singer, actor and JYJ member Park Yoochun was accused of sexual assault in five separate cases this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdphxzfPf80

In June, a Korean adult entertainment star referred to as Ms. Lee filed a report that Park had raped her in the bathroom of a club in Seoul. Lee said that she had been declining Yoochun’s sexual advances all night before she was raped. She eventually dropped the charges. As Daily Dot reports, her boyfriend made a statement to a Korean news outlet where he said that it was all an “accident” that happened when Ms. Lee was drunk.

“[I] didn’t want outsiders to know when I was filing the charges, but as the incident got reported, the situation got of out hand. She is under a state of shock, and too large of a damage was incurred by the other side,” he said , according to the Daily Dot.

Many thought that it was a case of blackmail until three other sex workers came forward to claim that Park Yoochun had sexually assaulted them. Ms. Lee also reopened her case in July.

After the second sexual assault claim was made, Yoochun’s agency, C-Jes Entertainment, said that they would initiate legal action for libel.

“If Yoochun is found guilty of committing the crimes, he will retire from the entertainment industry,” a statement from the agency read.

According to Bitbag , all five of the cases were eventually dismissed. In an interesting turn of events, it was later revealed that the first victim had tried to extort 100 million won from Park Yoochun. C-Jes Entertainment has since filed a lawsuit against her for the accusations she made against Yoochun.

Lee Min Ki

Kdrama actor, Lee Min Ki faced accusations that he had committed a sexual assault in February, according to Soompi. A woman, who the police later referred to as “A” claimed that Min Ki had “harassed” her at a nightclub. She filed an official charge of sexual harassment against Lee on February 29.

pic.twitter.com/XIRkcjKOlf

— M?c???. (@LeeMinki_FS) September 3, 2016

6. Lee Min Ki as Joo Byung Hee in “Shut Up Flower Boy Band” pic.twitter.com/zBU9fIill0

— K-news ? (@Allkpop_Arabs) August 30, 2016

Lee Min Ki has since been acquitted and the charges have been dropped, Soompi reports.

“The woman filed the charges mistakenly,” a statement from Lee Min Ki’s agency said. “She has since redacted her statement and we have received an apology from her. In the future we hope that such misunderstandings will not happen.”