Netizens’ tongues wag over Chinese celebrities’ links to scandal-hit K-pop star Seungri
The alleged sex scandals and other offences in which former K-pop Big Bang member Lee Seung-hyun – who goes under the stage name Seungri – has become embroiled have shocked the South Korean entertainment industry.
Dozens of the nation’s celebrities have been caught up in the swirl of allegations and are being investigated by officials.
Seungri, 28, is connected with a wide network of international celebrities, including many from China, Singapore and Japan.
He has been questioned by police after allegedly lobbying potential investors by offering them the services of prostitutes at Seoul nightclubs, including the Burning Sun.
Several Chinese stars acquainted with Seungri are now suspected by Chinese netizens of having been complicit in his alleged misconduct – without any evidence.
Taiwanese actor Chen Bolin was spotted hanging out with Seungri at his now notorious Burning Sun club. This has triggered speculation on social media that Chen might have been involved in – or was aware of – the alleged wrongdoings.
The actor responded to social media comments on Instagram with the message, “Embrace kindness. Forgive ignorance. A beautiful world with irresponsible comments.”
Chinese actor Wei Daxun, once a K-pop trainee in Korea, has also come under attack on social media for the same reasons that Chen has – for his association with Seungri. Wei’s agency quickly made an official announcement stating that any rumours linking him with the alleged K-pop sex scandal are completely false, and requested that commenters immediate stop posting such damaging comments about Wei.
Another Taiwanese actor, Ko Chen-tung, has also found himself caught up in the alleged sex scandal embroiling Seungri. South Korean online entertainment media outlet Dispatch released the guest list for Seungri’s extravagant birthday party, held in the Philippines in 2017; those listed included a drug-using celebrity from Taiwan whose surname begins with a “K”.
Ko, who was arrested in Beijing for drug use in 2014 along with Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee Chan, was immediately suspected by some social media users of being the guest whose surname begins with “K”. All this, again, without evidence.
His company has denied this, while Ko himself has taken to posting comments on Instagram such as (translated), “The world asks me do you want to hang in there. I answer back, I’m in so much pain”, with no specific mention of Seungri – raising concerns among social media users about his state of mind.
There’s a Chinese proverb, “Gua tian li xia”, which loosely translates as, “Do not stoop to tie your shoelace in a neighbour’s melon field or touch your hat under a plum tree if you want to avoid suspicion” – meaning that honourable people choose to avoid placing themselves in suspicious circumstances.
As the pronunciation of “li” in the proverb is similar to that of Seungri’s last name, Lee, Chinese netizens have dubbed Seungri’s club “the melon field”, which is now exposing the allegedly suspicious behaviour of his Chinese mates.
As of now, however, no evidence connects any of the Chinese celebrities mentioned in this article with the allegations surrounding Seungri.
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Guilty by association? It seems that being remotely acquainted with someone embroiled in a scandal is enough to arouse suspicion in the eyes of social media users