Ominous November

Illegal gambling, naked photo scandals fuel infamous phobia

By Park Si-soo

This is a Korean version of the "Friday the 13th" curse that haunts domestic celebrities only during November.

Ailee

Lee Soo-geun

Numerous stars have made headlines during the month for decades for perpetrating a variety of regrettable acts such as illegal gambling, drug consumption and drunk driving, among others.

Worse, some celebrities found themselves physically disabled in accidents, died of diseases or killed themselves, giving it the time-tested notorious nickname "Ominous November."

The specter of "something bad will happen" seems unlikely to miss the town this year considering that several top or rising stars have already shocked the market and their fans with unsavory scandals.

K-pop singer Ailee is the latest celebrity keeping the phobia alive. Several nude photos of the 24-year-old diva, nicknamed "Korean Beyonce" for her powerful voice and dance moves, were leaked on the Internet on the morning of Nov. 11. They were extensively reproduced — with private parts blurred — at the speed of light through major online messenger and social networking services, making it one of the most shocking scandals of the year.

Her management agency YMC argued that the photos were taken before the Korean-American made her debut here last year.

It added she took the photos in the United States to apply to an American lingerie company. Rumors have it that her ex-boyfriend, who is a member of "allkpop," an American news website specializing in K-pop, was behind the leak.

The online all-English website was the first news outlet to report on the leaked photos.

YMC recently appointed a lawyer in the U.S. to deal with the case in an apparent move to take legal action.

Just one day before the leak, five entertainers, including top comedian Lee Soo-geun, were caught for dabbling in illegal online gambling.

The four other celebrities in question are singer Tony An, a former member of the now-defunct legendary boy group, H.O.T.; Andy, a member of boy band Shinhwa; singer-turned-TV show host Tak Jae-hoon; and another TV show host Lee Min-ho, better known by his stage name Boom.

They are suspected of gambling hundreds of millions of won on illegal betting sites on English Premier League football games, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. It said comedian Lee admitted to gambling and decided to leave all TV programs he has appeared in, including KBS TV's popular reality show "One Night, Two Days."

Phobia turns 45

Experts believe the phobia surrounding November began to grow with the death of singer Cha Joong-rak, on Nov. 10, 1968. He suddenly died of acute meningitis when his song "Love Has Gone with Autumn Foliage" was gaining popularity.

Three years later (Nov. 10, 1971), then top singer Bae Ho died of complications of nephritis. Popular singer and songwriter Kim Jung-ho died of pulmonary tuberculosis on Nov. 7, 1985, and another musician Yoo Jae-ha, who is still touted as the father of Korean ballads and remembered in an annual memorial music festival, was killed in a car accident on Nov. 1, 1987.

Another legendary crooner Kim Hyun-sik died of hepatocirrhosis on Nov. 1, 1990. Kim Sung-jae, a hip-hop singer, rapper and dancer, part of the hip-hop duo DEUX, died of a heart attack on Nov. 20, 1995, under dubious circumstances.

The November phobia continued in the new millennium.

Kang Won-rae, a member of dance duo CLON, had a motorcycle accident on Nov. 9, 2000, that left his lower half of his body paralyzed. In the same month, comedian Joo Byung-jin was accused 10 days later of sexually assaulting a female college student, which was later found to be false.

Right around that time, Ahn Chil-hyun, the lead singer of five-member boy band H.O.T., was arrested by police for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The following year, then baby-faced top actress Hwang Soo-jeong surprised the public with police investigation into allegations of her drug abuse.

Adding more fuel to the trend, Miss Korea-turned-actress Ko Hyun-jung announced her divorce from Chung Yong-jin, incumbent vice chairman of retail giant Shinsegae Group, in November 2003.

Baseball player-turned-TV personality Kang Byung-kyu was arrested for illegal gambling in November 2008 and accused again the following year of blackmailing actor Lee Byung-hun.

Singer-turned-TV personality Shin Jung-hwan was placed on Interpol's wanted list in November 2010 on suspicion of illegal gambling at a casino in the Philippines.

In November 2012, TV personality Lee Yoon-ji, better known as Amy, was convicted of habitually consuming the powerful anesthetic propofol without medical prescription, which is illegal.

In the same month, top actress Park Joo-me was critically injured in a car accident and had to skip shooting an epic drama, where she performed in the lead role. Actor Yoo Joon-sang had his left cruciate ligament injured while shooting an action movie.

A team of journalists at the country's largest broadcaster KBS conducted an extensive research last year to uncover the mystery of the die-hard phobia, but failed to prove it scientifically.

"I don't know why. For any reason, many top stars died or were embroiled in unsavory scandals in November for many years and I think it has become the grounds for the ‘horrific November' tag," said Ha Jae-geun, an entertainment culture critic.