By Jung Da-min
K-pop boy band BIGBANG's Seungri has apologized over an alleged assault of a man by the staff at the club Burning Sun, known as "Seungri Club." He worked as director of the club and recently resigned ahead of starting his military service.
But the controversy has been growing after disclosures by muckraking Dispatch of text messages exchanged among its staff indicating they arranged meetings between female customers and their VIP clients, involving drugs and coercive sexual contacts.
On Jan. 28, MBC News Desk reported an alleged assault at the club, citing a 29-year-old man, who claimed he was physically assaulted by Burning Sun's staff last November while trying to help a woman sexually harassed at the club.
Seungri made his first statement six days after the story broke out, apologizing on his Instagram account Saturday night.
"I apologize to all those who have been unhappy or worried about recent events and controversies related to me," he said in the statement.
Seungri said he was not at the scene at the time of the assault and he was also shocked to see the video of the scene through media reports.
"Issues triggered by the assault case are now leading to media reports on drugs," he said. "In this part, I have never seen or heard about it myself, so I will cooperate actively with the investigation."
The Dispatch report came the next day on Sunday.
 |
| K-pop boy band BIGBANG's Seungri. Korea Times file |
But the controversy has been growing after disclosures by muckraking Dispatch of text messages exchanged among its staff indicating they arranged meetings between female customers and their VIP clients, involving drugs and coercive sexual contacts.
On Jan. 28, MBC News Desk reported an alleged assault at the club, citing a 29-year-old man, who claimed he was physically assaulted by Burning Sun's staff last November while trying to help a woman sexually harassed at the club.
 |
| This footage from MBC News Desk's Jan. 28 broadcast shows alleged assault under way in November last year. |
Seungri made his first statement six days after the story broke out, apologizing on his Instagram account Saturday night.
"I apologize to all those who have been unhappy or worried about recent events and controversies related to me," he said in the statement.
Seungri said he was not at the scene at the time of the assault and he was also shocked to see the video of the scene through media reports.
"Issues triggered by the assault case are now leading to media reports on drugs," he said. "In this part, I have never seen or heard about it myself, so I will cooperate actively with the investigation."
The Dispatch report came the next day on Sunday.
![[INTERVIEW] 'One Day Off' star Lee Na-young, director on creating subtle, feel-good series](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/796618f56a44402eabe81fe4530ab988.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Lee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/77a9da6df7da4284adbee249a87307c1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
