TV show airs singer Kim Gun-mo's love story despite sexual assault claim

By Lee Gyu-lee

Despite a recent claim of rape made against veteran singer Kim Gun-mo, the reality TV show “My Little Old Boy” screened an episode Sunday showing him proposing to his pianist fiancee Jang Ji-yeon, who is 13 years his junior.

The program revealed the story of their romance and showed Kim's house decorated with 3,000 roses and rose petals for the occasion. As Jang entered, the singer sang to her and then proposed marriage. The episode went on to show the couple sharing their story and how they met.

The episode aired two days after a lawyer, Kang Yong-suk, accused the singer of rape in a live YouTube video streamed Friday. Kang claimed the singer came to a hostess bar in Gangnam in August 2016 by himself, wearing a Batman T-shirt that he often wore on the show. After drinking with eight hostesses in a room, he made them all leave except for the alleged victim, and then forced himself on her.

Kang added that he had met with the alleged victim twice after he contacted him by email. “We walked through the evidence to measure the validity,” he said. “So, we were able to get a considerable amount of evidence.”

The lawyer did not disclose any further details, saying he would keep them confidential for now in case Kim also took legal action. He noted that the victim decided to come forward because she had a hard time seeing the media showing only Kim's “good side.”

The singer's agency denied the accusation shortly after it was made, and said it would take legal action against anyone spreading “false information.” But the agency has made no further comment since then.

Despite the claim, Kim went ahead with his scheduled year-end solo concert “Kim Gun-mo 25th Anniversary Tour,” in Incheon, west of Seoul. He briefly responded to the accusation, telling the audience, "I'm sorry for causing concern. I will settle the issue wisely.”

The lawyer filed a criminal complaint against the singer on behalf of the alleged victim, Monday. "Kim has not apologized nor admitted to the offense, and the victim is still suffering," Kang told reporters the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, on his way to file the complaint. “What the victim is consistently seeking is for him to admit and sincerely apologize.”

Kim, who debuted in 1992, is one of Korea's most successful artists with many hit songs including “Wrongful Encounter” (1995) and “The Moon of Seoul” (2005).

Since 2016, he has been featured on the reality show “My Little Old Boy” with his mother Lee Sun-mi, and spoke of his life as a “free-spirited” single man.

In October, Kim made the surprise announcement that he was marrying his pianist. He later revealed that they were already legally married, but were delaying the wedding ceremony until next May.