The world of K-pop is still reeling from the aftershocks of the infamous Burning Sun scandal involving Seungri, a former member of BIGBANG (one of the biggest K-pop acts in the last decade) who is being investigated in South Korea on salacious charges related to prostitution and and drugs. Now, reports have emerged that there is an Indonesian angle to the scandal.
South Korean news site Sisa Journal recently published screenshots purporting to be of a leaked chat between Seungri and a business partner, identified by his initial A, in 2014. The chat allegedly revealed the singer-turned-businessman arranging female escorts for A for the latter’s trip to Indonesia, as shown in the English translations of the chat in the tweets below:
#BurningMolkahttps://t.co/ao7BeeDNND pic.twitter.com/JTAooFw766
— pannatic (@pannatic) March 14, 2019
In the chat, Seungri offered several female escorts under his employ for A’s upcoming business trip to Indonesia. The pair referred to the women using numbers instead of their names, with Seungri also describing some of their personality traits, such as one woman’s tendency to “become a mess when she’s drunk.”
#BurningMolka pic.twitter.com/M3bkd16n07
— pannatic (@pannatic) March 14, 2019
According to the chats, A intended to bring two escorts for his clients in Indonesia, as implied by his mention of “South Asian men” (Ed. note: Indonesians are actually Southeast Asian) prefer “women with pale/light skin tone, not someone innocent and pure, but someone sexy”. Seungri went on to confirm their “price” for the trip, which was 10 million won (around IDR125.5 million or US$8,788) per woman.
A’s business dealings in Indonesia, and who his clients are, were not detailed in the leaked chat or in South Korean media thus far.
Neither Seungri nor the South Korean police have confirmed the authenticity of the leaked chat. Sisa Journal has also not revealed their source.
Seungri has had a dramatic fall from grace over the past few weeks after allegations surfaced recently of sexual assault, physical assault and illegal drug use at the Burning Sun nightclub — which Seungri sits on the board of — as well as his alleged participation in the spread illicit spy cam sex videos featuring Korean celebrities.
Amid the scandal and the ongoing police investigation, Seungri recently announced his retirement from the entertainment industry. He also had a solo concert in Jakarta planned for March 17, which was cancelled despite tickets selling out fast in February.
