Uncovering Seungri’s Disturbing VIP “Girl Hunting” Tactics at Burning Sun, Even His Own Fans Were in Danger
Emerging in 2018 and lasting 11 months, the Burning Sun case concluded with shockingly short sentences that caused outrage among the public. Recently, the scandal was reignited by a BBC investigative report. Besides focusing on the most active participant in the chat room, Jung Joon Young, the report placed Seungri (former BIGBANG member) at the center of the story.
In May 2022, Seungri was convicted of nine charges, most notably for procuring prostitution. When the scandal broke out six years ago, the media primarily focused on Jung, and the details of Seungri’s involvement in procuring prostitutes for wealthy clients were not revealed in detail.
It wasn’t until BBC’s report aired that Seungri’s tactics of grooming victims were fully exposed. According to the report, leveraging his status as a K-pop star in Asia, Seungri aimed to enter Korea’s wealthiest circles through business ventures.
To connect with wealthy and high-profile figures not just in Korea but globally, Seungri used sex and women as tools to win over partners. Burning Sun, the largest club in Gangnam at the time, was the starting point for his ambition. Disturbingly, he exploited his own fans.
BBC uncovered all the dark corners of Seungri’s and his friends’ scandal. Delving deeper into details provided by BBC, Choi Jong Hoon (F.T. Island) and even Jung Joon Young were merely following Seungri’s lead.
Among the friends involved in the two sex chat rooms and colluding with high-ranking police, Seungri was the ringleader. Choi did everything Seungri commanded. This was because in the group, Seungri was the most popular celebrity and had the most connections with the police and powerful figures. He enjoyed being called Seungtsby—a nickname combining Seungri and Gatsby (a character symbolizing a self-made wealthy man).
In December 2017, Seungri organized a lavish party costing an estimated $1,072,570 on Palawan Island, Philippines. He rented an entire resort for his birthday, covering flight tickets for VIP guests and other extravagant expenses.
In fact, this was a disguised investor-attracting event for Seungri’s plan to open Burning Sun. He utilized every connection to invite numerous wealthy individuals from Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
According to information released by Dispatch in 2019 and recent messages uncovered by BBC, Seungri had his friends join in this “operation” to invite investors. He arranged staff and planned to escort beautiful women from nightclubs and even introduced drugs into this party.
“Seungri often came to the club with Lee Moon Ho (the president of Burning Sun). He boasted about renting an entire island in the Philippines for his birthday. He said he only invited beautiful women and also invited me with the condition that I bring other pretty girls,” revealed a staff member from the most famous club in Gangnam.
According to this staff member, Seungri promised to cover all expenses if she brought pretty girls along. Ten girls working at this famous club attended, and a few girls ranked among the top 10% in beauty also came. Two months after the highly successful birthday party, Burning Sun was established.
Lee Moon Ho became the president, Ms. Lin was the investor, and Seungri was the executive director. The crimes Seungri committed against female victims became even more severe due to the scale of Burning Sun.
Hearing that a new nightclub opened in the five-star Le Meridien hotel in the heart of Seoul and that Seungri would run it, many were curious. Responding to the high expectations of the guests, Burning Sun prepared a “specialty” that no famous nightclub in Gangnam could match, which was Seungri’s special performance.
Periodically, Seungri would personally come to Burning Sun to perform as a DJ. This seemed like a form of customer appreciation, but it was actually a disguised tactic to “prey” on victims for VIP customers.
According to a former employee, Seungri and his special DJ performance were the main attractions drawing the largest number of female guests to the club. With the surge in female guests, many male customers also rushed to book tables. “This is the crucial point,” the employee revealed. Notably, most female guests at Burning Sun during these occasions were Seungri’s fans.
According to a male reporter who followed the case from the beginning, customers had to pay at least $1,500 on regular days and $7,500 on weekends to book a table at Burning Sun. The price for a table could increase tenfold to $75,000 for occasions like Valentine’s Day or Halloween.
Images of dozens of girls lining up just to join the atmosphere with the “fireworks and champagne” special performances of VIP guests are shocking. Paying that much to get a table, wealthy guests naturally expected something special in return. Burning Sun built an entire secret system located in the deepest area to “hunt prey” for the preferences of VIP clients.
Delving further into this underground service, Burning Sun had a secret operation system through the Kakaotalk chat app. The MDs had the task of taking advantage of the opportunity when beautiful female guests were drunk to secretly take their photos. The MDs would then send the photos to male VIP clients to choose their “prey” through Kakaotalk.
GHB was the most commonly used rape drug at Burning Sun to support this horrific sexual service. According to lawyer Bang Jung Hyun, Burning Sun is one of the most particularly serious cases due to the dangers of GHB—a drug that can make victims lose consciousness and not remember what happened.
A former Burning Sun employee revealed that typically, GHB was secretly used behind the doors of private guest rooms. There was a room located very deep in this nightclub believed to be where VIP clients raped female victims.
Many security guards were stationed outside this room. Their job was to ensure no sound escaped from the room, regardless of what happened inside. “Every day, I witnessed female guests passing out after being drugged with GHB at Burning Sun,” one employee recounted.
Source: K14
