'I couldn't resist his power' - inside the sex scandal rocking South Korea's K-pop industry

June 26, 2019

A sinister sex scandal has rocked the centre of the South Korea's K-Pop music industry, hit hard by sordid stories exposed in Seoul's Gangnam nightlife district.

The growing scandal began with claims that some of the biggest names in K-Pop had drugged, and raped women, sharing videos of the acts.

A wider investigation centres on sexual abuse in some of Gangnam's most glamorous clubs. The BBC claiming that the elite and powerful of Gangnam were requesting drugged or unconscious women, paying tens of thousands of dollars to be taken to a nearby room, and be raped.

One woman who had drinks with a businessman in a club blacked out, waking up in a hotel room.

"He got on top of me, and used both hands to block my mouth, and started pressing down hard, as if he was doing CPR," she said.

"He kept saying 'relax, relax'.

"I couldn't resist his power, and was in so much pain that I could die. So I just gave up and lay there like a dead body."

The man in question denies the allegations, claiming CCTV footage backs up his account. The investigation is ongoing.

Protestors have taken to the streets, having heard claims that police ignored reports of sexual assault in exchange for bribes.

Gangnam's police chief has stepped down, with remaining officers battling to restore trust.

"We will focus our efforts on preventing sex crimes where women are drugged," Superintendent Choi Hyun-A told the BBC.

"We will put every effort into stopping incidents like this from happening ever again."

Having dragged these crimes out of the darkness, women in South Korea say that they're determined to fight for change, and hold their society's most powerful to account.

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