Maybe you've heard the term Kpop once in a while as it is becoming popular these days and the Kpop industry is worth Billions of dollars now. Here are some of the controversies revolving around famous Korean Singers, some of which shook the whole Hallyu world. The biggest is The Burning Sun Scandal. Kpop has a huge 'Cancel Culture' where the allegations proved or not always take a toll on an artist's career and most of them have had to either go inactive for a while or in extreme cases leave their company or group.
1. Burning Sun Scandal
The Burning Sun Scandal is also known as Burning Sun Gate, a controversy that shook the whole of South Korea. The scandal involved multiple celebrities from the K-Pop industry which resulted in 3 years of imprisonment of Seungri, an ex-member of the popular group BigBang. The singer was found guilty of sexual crimes, gambling, prostitution mediation, embezzlement, etc
2. APRIL Bullying
Several members of the Kpop girl group APRIL were accused of bullying their former bandmate Lee Hyun Joo. The group's agency DSP Media had initiated legal action against Lee Hyun Joo and her family for defamation. The group later disbanded in 2022.
3. Mina-Jimin Bullying
In July 2020 Shin Ji Min, leader of Kpop group AOA left the group after her former bandmate Kwon Mina accused her of bullying her during her time in the group. Jimin issued an apology while Mina claimed that Jimin had bullied three other people as well.
4. Kim Da Hee
Kim Da Hee, a former member of the girl group GLAM, had attempted to threaten actor Lee Byung Hun for 5 billion Korean Won. The singer had recorded footage of the actor talking dirty with her after drinks. Da Hee was found guilty and was sentenced to probation of 2 years. The singer later changed her name to Kim Si Won.
5. Kwon Kwang Jin
Kwon Kwang Jin, a former member of Pop group N Flying we accused of sexual harassment. In 2018 the singer was accused of mistreating his fans, sexually assaulting them, dating fansite masters, etc. He has been a bassist for the band. The singer left the group after things went south.
6. Son Ho Young
G.O.D member Son Ho Young attempted to commit suicide in 2013 shortly after his girlfriend had committed suicide. The singer's girlfriend was discovered dead in his car. He was on an overdose of sleeping pills and had lit coal briquettes in his car the same way as his girlfriend.
7. Blackpink
The popular Kpop girl group had landed in a controversy after the Indian viewers accused the group of cultural misappropriation in their music video for the song How You Like That for putting a statue of Lord Ganesha for aesthetics. The image was later censored.
8. Baek Ji Young's Sex Tape
Baek Ji Young was illegally filmed with her manager in a sex tape. The video was allegedly leaked by her then manager. The singer had to leave her career for many years. The singer was a minor at the time of the incident and the manager was later sentenced to prison.
9. Lee Ji Eun
Star Korean soloist Lee Ji Eun also known as IU was accused of sexualizing a minor protagonist in one of her songs. The singer in her apology described 'My sweet Orange tree' as her treasure book authored by Brazilian author Jose Mauro De Vasconcelos.
10. Wonho
Former member of pop group Monsta X was accused of using marijuana which is illegal in South Korea. The singer was involved in multiple controversies of debt and stealing. The agency Starship Entertainment later issued a statement announcing the singer being cleared of all charges related to the case in 2020.
