Warning: This film includes descriptions some viewers may find distressing.
A #BBCEye investigation into three K-pop stars who were sharing evidence of sexual crimes in secret chat groups.
UPDATE: The BBC has removed a short section of this film on 21/05/24 as it contained a factual inaccuracy: It wrongly attributed legal advice given to victim ‘Kyung-mi’ as from a lawyer from broadcaster KBS, when in reality it was advice from a different lawyer.
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In South Korea, K-pop stars have fame, fortune and millions of female fans. But some led a double life, inhabiting a hidden world where videos of women being drugged, assaulted and humiliated were shared. This #BBCEye documentary tells the story of the female journalists who took on the task of investigating the secret chat groups of prominent K-pop stars – and paid a high personal price.
‘Molka’ is the Korean term for secretly taking explicit photos or videos without consent. It’s a crime that’s increased elevenfold in the last fifteen years in South Korea. Three friends, all successful K-pop stars, were sharing images in which unconscious women were sexually assaulted. Some of the messages contained evidence that two of the stars, Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon had subjected a woman to extreme sexual violence.
Their crimes would never have been discovered had the phone data of Jung Joon-young not been leaked. The information eventually ended up in the hands of Korean journalist Kang Kyung-yoon, who began a painstaking process of verifying hundreds of explicit photos and videos. The scandal also involved a top Gangnam club, Burning Sun, where another of the friends, Big Bang star Seungri, was a DJ and CEO. Women were being drugged inside the nightclub, and sexually assaulted by men attending the club. Kang and fellow-journalist Park tell the story of their investigation and how they became the targets for exposing the stars.
00:00 Intro
02:48 What is ‘molka’?
03:40 Jung Joon-young accused of molka
08:13 The data leak
10:09 Meet Choi Jong-hoon and Seungri
11:11 Global investment in the business plan
12:49 A pattern of exploitation
17:58 Gangnam nightlife and the business of assault
20:44 The cost of reporting
22:43 The VIP client experience
32:32 The ‘dark fortress’ – a secretive space
33:49 The red bathroom
37:37 The lawyer meets the journalists
39:54 Hara assists the investigation
42:33 The senior police contact
45:38 Accountability and arrests
47:27 More victims come forward
49:12 Women protest for further protection
50:52 Hara’s personal crisis
53:58 The sentencing
55:48 The future of Sex and Power
🎥 Watch this documentary in KOREAN here: https://bbc.in/3WQVFDg , in MANDARIN here: https://bbc.in/4ayps78 and in THAI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=293uHzqjPtw
🎧 Listen to the podcast series “Intrigue: Burning sun” here: https://bbc.in/4dUejQL
To watch more investigative journalism from our award-winning BBC Eye team check out this documentary playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4fADt3h_U2SOWErIq-xtXPD
Credits:
Head of Longform – Liz Gibbons
Editor BBC Investigations – Marc Perkins
Executive Producers – Monica Garnsey, Mustafa Khalili, Kavita Puri
Produced and Directed by – Kai Lawrence
Director Of Photography – Kai Lawrence
Film Editors – Kai Lawrence, Jeong-One Park, Renee Edwards BFE
Narrator – Kate Fleetwood
Assistant Editors: Douglas Bunnage-Flavell, Ali Turab Qazi
Additional Research – Loonie Park, Shuyue Ren
Original Music – Jason Luxton
Lighting Cameraman – Nils Clauss
Graphic Designer – Douglas McGinness
Colourist – Michael Sanders
Online Editor – Dominic McMahon
Dubbing Mixer – Ross Millership
Executive Producers, Impact – Charlotte Hayward, Vara Szajkowski
Impact Producers – Baya Cat, Rajni Boddington, Alison Gee, Anusha Kumar, Bethany Rose, Emaan Warraich, Kulwant Sohal
Assistant Producers – Lee-hyun Choi, Jinny Yeon, Bugyeong Jung, Sinae Hong, Kwon Moon, Keith Park, Max Kim
Associate Producer – Chloe Hadjimatheou
Production Executive – Nayantara Gauba
Production Managers – Suzanne Luu, Jessica Butler, Dawn Macdonald, Kate Moore
Production Management Assistant – Catia Da Costa
Production Coordinators – Liza Hodgson, Siobhan Reed, Sameer Hussain, Shima Mashhoor
Archive Sources – MBC, KBS, Yonhap News, YG Entertainment, Mnet, YTN, Voice For The People, Kukmin, Ilbo, Korean’s Women Hotline, News1, JTBC, Marie Claire Korea, Dispatch
Voice Actors – Jeni Seo, Jun Noh, Taeho Kim
Special thanks to – Kevin Kim, Pyo Kisik, Lee Seung-Woo
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