The Timeline of Burning Sun & Jung Jun Yong's Kakaotalk Scandal
The so-called Burning Sun Scandal" starts at the end of 2018 with Mr. Kim Sang Kyo's complaint that he was assaulted by Burning Sun nightclub staff on November 24, 2018, while helping a woman being sexually harassed. The next two months the case grew into exposing the dirty business of the club - drugs, underage sex trafficking, rapes, sex bribing, coruption and etc. Investigation started to reveal the crimes. Everyone talked about the drug-rapes in the VIP rooms of Burning Sun and other clubs.
On 26 February SBS funE released text messages between Seungri, CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings and an employee in 2015 regarding hiring sexual escort services at Club Arena for foreign investors. They were released by an anonymous source. Later (on 1 March) was reported that a whistleblower submitted the text messages of Seungri (ordering sexual escort services) to the Anti Corruption and Civil Rights Commission on February 22. Then the accent of the media turned from the terrible crimes in Burning Sun's VIP rooms to the alleged corruption and sex bribing case of Seungri and his business partner Yoo In Suk. All the revealed chat messages were about Seungri's business (that at the moment included Burning Sun management but in fact the messages were from 2 years before Burning Sun to open).
Then on March 11, SBS reported about KakaoTalk chatroom where hidden camera footage and photos are shared between Seungri, two male singers, CEO Yoo of Yuri Holdings, two regular citizens, and Mr. Kim - an acquaintance of Seungri’s who helped him run his restaurant business and also worked at Club Arena. According to the texts, Mr. Kim posted illegal hidden camera photos and videos, to which Seungri and others responded. SBS also reported that one of the celebrities in the KakaoTalk chatroom is allegedly Jung Joon Young. The report states that he uploaded illegal hidden camera footage to the chat several times, some showing himself engaging in sexual intercourse with women filmed without consent. At least 10 victims are confirmed.
Later the source of these KakaoTalk messages was revealed to be a lawyer, Bang Jung Hyun. He had obtained the messages from an "anonymous source", possibly a technician at a phone repair shop, where Jung Joon Young had dropped his phone off for repairs (means the technician stole the information from the celebrity's phone to possibly blackmail him later or to sell the info to the media!). The whistleblower (the info thief) had sent an email to lawyer Bang, of thousands of chats taken from JJY's phone, which took place over eight months between 2015 and 2016. When the Burning Sun scandal started, the phone messages were forwarded to the Anti Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and to SBS FunE; and the secretly filmed sex tapes and other chat messages on JJY's phone became public. (source - wikipedia)
It's not clear whether the messages with Seungri's dirty business are the same as JJY's chat room. If it's the same, it's a bit strange how Seungri would discuss and share so freely the dirtiest details of his business in JJY's chat rooms with his friends. Because if it was taken from JJY's phone how it could contain Seungri's private conversation with his business partners and staff or if it was JJY's private conversation with friends how Seungri would talk about his business there. Well, JJY, JH and Seungri are all friends but still... there are secrets in business, especially things that could incrimane one, that he wouldn't share even with closest friends that are not accomplices in these illegal acts.
So, from here starts the strange twisting and the transformation of Burning Sun's Scandal into JJY's Kakaotalk case.
The next several days (12-17 of March) there were revealed fragmental conversations from different chat rooms that JJY had with his friends. There were group chat rooms and one-to-one chat rooms. The conversations that different broadcasting stations and online and offline medias posted were not captchas from JJY' real Kakaotalk but obviously photoshopped pics that has nothing to do with how the Kakaotalk chat rooms conversations look like. Any of these published conversation consisted of just few lines with gaps between some lines without indication of the timing. They could be mixed or taken from different conversations.
These conversations allegedly contained JJY's hidden camera sex videos of himself and women taken without women's consent; utterly disrespectful comments regarding women as a whole and regarding some of his acquaintances or female celebrities; Jonghoon, Roy Kim, Eddy Kim, Seungri and other male celebrities that also illegally shared photos and videos; JH's alleged bribing attempt, when he was caught drunk-driving and allegedly JH's friend covering the case for him; Seungri different cases of bribing and offering sex escorts service to investors in his business; embezzling funds, collusion with police and even alleged connections with international mafia; other minor cases less discussed by media.
JJY and JH were summoned for police questioning. On March 18 President Moon Jae In orders thorough investigations on Burning Sun and all nightclubs, as well as late actress Jang Ja Yeon. On March 21 JH officially booked for bribing a police officer for the drunk-driving incident from 2016. While JJY placed under arrest for filming and sharing hidden camera footage and photos.
On 18 of April a woman testifies that she was sexually assaulted by five members of the chatroom, including Jung Joon Young and Choi Jong Hoon. She stated that she found out about the assault after the group chatroom conversations were reported in the news, and she plans to file a lawsuit.
On April 19 a woman comes forward with testimony about alleged sexual assault by Mr. Kim at a gathering overseas attended by Seungri, Roy Kim, Yoo In Suk, and more (no Jonghoon there). JTBC reports of a new victim from chatroom conversations, who was filmed by non-celebrity Kim and identifies celebrity relative Kwon as the assailant.
Since March one of the rare and may be even the last reports of the crimes in Burning Sun was on April 24. MBC's investigative news program Straight reports of violent sexual assault, human trafficking, minors being prostituted and unconscious women being filmed in sexual torture acts. But who is responsible for all these crimes in the club co-owned by Seungri and Yoo In Suk if they both are not charged for this and at present time no one even talks about that.
April 30, police wrapping up their investigation of Seungri and Yoo In Suk. Seungri is suspect of prostitution mediation, embezzlement, sharing of illegal footage and tax evasion. The request of arrest warrants for Seungri and Yoo In Suk are dismissed while Jonghoon is arrested as suspect of sexual assault, months before the court trial, without any direct evidence only by oblique accusations.
So what is the conclusion of this timeline? On 22 February the file with JJY's chat room conversations, shared photos and videos were submitted to the Anti Corruption Commission. All the conversations for 8 months from the end of 2015 till the middle of 2016, and all the videos and pics JJY and friends shared. On 9-10 March the police got the files and Lawyer Bang send them to all the Korean media, too.
The Commission analyzed the conversations, photos and videos for 15 days before submit them to the police. Then the police and the media looked through them in details and they extracted the most reprimanding (and the most scandalous) to form the charges against JJY, Jonghun and the others. And from 11 of March till 18 of April the only crimes and sins that the police and the media saw in the conversations and shared photos and videos were - illegal shooting of videos without consent, illegal sharing, disrespectful comments regarding women and for Jonghoon alleged intention for bribing a police officer.
Every single day of this period of time, all Korean media, reposted the same fragmental parts from JJY's chat. There were dozens of shows with guests professionals to analyze and discuss in smallest details the kakaotalk chat and also hundreds of articles. JJY was arrested for illegal shooting and sharing, Jonghoon was interrogated in police for 21 hours and booked for the same. And NO ONE - neither the police, nor the journalists or the professionals saw that these same lines in the conversations and these same pics, audio and videos indicate sexual assault!
Then, out of the blue, on 18 April, the so-called victims filed a complain for being raped, based only on these same conversations and pics. The victims who claim that remember nothing and didn't feel something was wrong with their bodies, who didn't feel need to go to a doctor or to file a complain 3 years ago, now, 1 month after they saw the conversations and the pics and after a talk with lawyer Bang (who got the files from the info theif and sent them to the Anti Corruption Commission and all the media) they miraculously felt that they MUST BEEN raped!
And also miraculously all the media began to see that these (the same) conversations now contain words that indicates sexual assault! All the same already published and commented chat talks were published again with the new interpretation, and all the same people - journalists, lawyers and experts started to discuss how clearly and no doubt these conversations and photos/videos show sexual assault. Were they all blind one month ago or they all lied after that? The most shocking is that these conversations and videos that initially didn't seem (neither to the media, not to the police) like incriminating of sexual assault became the one and only proof for the police arrest JJY, JH and friends and for the court to sentence them.