22page

All stories are culled with consent from Korea JoongAng Daily’s website and edited by Groove Korea for length and clarity. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Groove Korea. — Ed. N A T i o N A l N E w swith January 2013 / www.koreajoongangdaily.com KoREAN CElEBRiTiEs AND THE sEX TRAD E Prosecutors are investigating accusations that as many as 30 female celebrities, some very well known, were paid by influential businessmen to provide sexual services. The Ansan branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office has already questioned actresses suspected of prostitution after it launched an investigation earlier in 2013. Among the suspects is an actress in her 30s who starred in a number of TV dramas and movies. She is suspected of having been paid for sexual services with cash or goods worth hundreds of millions of won. Another actress suspected in the scandal has also starred in a number of popular TV dramas. Last August, prosecutors requested a pre-trial detention warrant for a man sus- pected of brokering trysts between a num- ber of celebrities and powerful figures in business circles. A court rejected the re- quest, citing a lack of evidence. Men who have allegedly paid the celeb- rities for sex were also said to have been summoned for questioning. “There have been rumors about business- men offering so-called sponsorships to ce- lebrities before,” a prosecutor involved in the case said. “But this is the first time that such a large number of female entertainers were mobi- lized to provide sex for money alone.” The prosecutor said this case implicates some very well-known celebrities. In 2009, aspiring actress Jang Ja-yeon killed herself at age 30 and left a suicide note claiming she was coerced into having drinks with members of the media and business moguls. The note also said she was forced to provide them with sexual ser- vices. METH KiNG iN GiMHAE BUsTED AFTER CAR CHAsE Prosecutors indicted five drug smugglers and one drug user with physical detention and confiscated 370 grams of metham- phetamine from them. The drugs, worth about 120 million won ($113,040), would be enough to get 12,000 people high, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office announced last month. Prosecutors added that they placed two other suspected smugglers who distributed the drugs in South Gyeongsang and Seoul on a wanted list. According to prosecutors, one of the five smugglers, a 43-year-old man identified as Oh, who was nicknamed “Drug King” in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, sold 318 grams of meth that had been smug- gled from China between October 2012 and April 2013 to the four indicted brokers in the southeastern province. It was revealed that Oh only used borrowed-name bank accounts and mobile phones to conduct his business. Oh is also said to have sold meth only from inside his Mercedes. The prosecutors said that most of the 318 grams of meth sold by Oh were distributed through gang affiliations, adding that at least 10 grams, or enough to be consumed by over 300 peo ple, were traded in a single deal. Authorities said the five indicted brokers only conducted drug deals with people that they had known from their previous prison terms or longtime friends from their home- towns to avoid police crackdowns. Oh’s stint as a drug king ended in July 2013 when he was arrested after a 10-kilometer high-speed car chase in Gimhae, which end- ed when Oh crashed his car. Inside the car were meth and a Japanese sword that Oh had kept there in case he had to confront the authorities. www.groovekorea.com / January 2014 22