Why is Zico mentioned every time there is new information related to the Burning Sun scandal?

Why is Zico mentioned every time there is new information related to the Burning Sun scandal? This incident inevitably brings up Zico’s former close friends Jung Joon Young and Seungri. After the scandal where Jung Joon Young and Seungri secretly filmed and distributed videos of 10 victims in a chatroom was exposed, a piece of evidence suddenly became a hot topic in discussions about this shocking series of events, namely Jung Joon Young’s ‘golden phone’. This phone is suspected to contain a lot of data including videos, sexually explicit photos of women, and 200,000 ‘dirty’ messages. It is also key evidence in this case.

In 2016, on MBC’s ‘Radio Star’ program, Zico inadvertently revealed that Jung Joon Young owned a special phone used only for messaging: ‘Jung Joon Young has a ‘golden phone’. It’s not something he uses often, just for messaging. There are many people in there, like collecting Pokemon.’ Zico also mentioned borrowing Jung’s phone. Recently, netizens have suddenly focused on an image of a phone that Zico posted on February 25th – before the chatroom scandal was exposed. Is this the ‘golden phone’ referred to? This is the question that many netizens left in the comments section of Zico’s Instagram.

However, upon closer inspection of the photo caption, it appears that this is not Jung Joon Young’s phone but a product that Zico is endorsing. After being repeatedly questioned, Zico clarified that he only borrowed Jung’s phone to find contact numbers of a few people and hasn’t been in touch with this former friend for a long time. Previously, Jung Joon Young shared that Zico came to his house and used the ‘golden phone’ all day.

Meanwhile, recently, on the broadcast episode of June 22nd of the investigative program “Unanswered Questions,” the production team revealed a sketch of a burglar who broke into Goo Hara‘s house in 2020, aided by AI technology. This individual, estimated to be between 20 to 30 years old, approximately 1.75 meters tall, wore round metal-frame glasses, earrings, lace-up shoes, a jacket, and notably resembled Zico.

Goo Hara’s older brother also affirmed, “This person knew the layout of the house very well. No one could come there for the first time and navigate so smoothly. He knew we didn’t lock the balcony door, and Goo Hara also didn’t lock the door between the bedroom and dressing room because she often moved between both sides. We had deactivated the security system on that door, and the thief knew all the habits of the homeowners.”

After the descriptions provided by the police, netizens immediately concluded that the sketch of the thief closely resembled Zico. The rumor quickly spread and negatively affected the reputation of the owner of the hit song “Any Song.”

By June 24th, Zico’s management company spoke out, denying all accusations and announcing their intention to sue for spreading false rumors and malicious comments. Despite this, because the thief broke in and took a safe containing important information along with an old phone allegedly linked to the Burning Sun case, many netizens still suspect that the thief was Zico himself, and he attempted to take away crucial evidence related to the incident.