Roy Kim named as member of Jung Joon-young and Seungri's chatroom in 'The Burning Sun' scandal; fans devastated
Singer-songwriter Roy Kim has been named as one of the members of Jung Joon-young and Seungri's chatroom through which the latter was distributing illegal videos of women performing sex. The scandal which broke early in February has shaken the Korean entertainment industry and has also marked the beginning of the #MeToo movement in South Korea. On April 2, it was revealed by officials that Roy Kim was one of the members of the chatroom who were earlier not named in reports. The singer, who is currently studying in the US, will be questioned by the police before they decide if he should be booked on any charges. As to how involved he was in the chatroom is unclear at this point.
Many reports from Korea also suggests that the 'Mr Kim' alias was not owned by one of the Burning Sun club employees, but is in fact, Roy Kim. According to AllKPop, a police source said, "Thirteen of the 16 individuals will be questioned. Seven have been booked, and there's a chance more will be booked depending on their witness interviews. As for whether or not Roy Kim will be booked, we'll see after questioning."
They also quoted an official from Roy Kim's label as saying, "We haven't heard anything from him yet. We'll check with him as he's currently attending school in America."
A whistleblower had submitted proof from chats which took place in 2016 to a reporter from SBC, who then followed up on the same and it was also revealed that corrupt police officials had earlier helped actor Jung Joon-young get off similar charges filed against him in 2016. The other South Korean celebrities to be named in 'The Burning Sun' scandal include Yong Junhyung, Choi Jong-hoon, Yoo In-Seok and Lee Jong-hyun.
Since news of Roy Kim's involvement broke, several fans have taken to social media sites to comment about how heartbroken they feel after having followed the singer loyally for long.
One fan tweeted, "if Roy Kim was also involved who’s gonna serenade me now and tell me I am their world."
Another fan wrote, "Sad to see that #RoyKim was exposed as part of Jung Joon Young's chatroom.. I liked his music but this is complete betrayal Gotta unstan now guys."