While Bigbang’s Seungri appeared at the police station over an allegation that he attempted to provide prostitutes to his business investors, K-pop star Jung Joon-young is alleged to have secretly filmed himself having sex with about ten women and sharing the footage with friends including Seungri via a messaging app.
A series of recent scandals have exposed the dark side of South Korea's booming yet ultra-competitive entertainment industry.
South Korean pop songs, TV dramas and films are hugely popular in Asia and beyond but male stars have faced allegations of sexual assault and reports that female trainees have been forced to provide sexual services to men in power.
Many K-pop stars are recruited by talent agencies as teenagers, some elementary school students, and they often sleep, eat and train together before making a debut. Some suicides have occurred among celebrities in the industry.
Some observers say the ongoing scandals also reflect a bigger social problem of rampant sexual crimes against women.
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