Introducing - Intrigue: Burning Sun

Explicit content warning

06/20/23 • 3 min

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The sex scandals that brought down some of the world’s biggest K-pop Stars. A tale of depravity, power and excess - hidden behind a facade of wholesome pop music. In 2019 some of the world’s biggest music stars were found guilty of sharing secretly filmed sex videos, others of rape. Korean heart-throbs, used to being mobbed by adoring female fans, had been videoing themselves committing acts of terrible abuse and sharing them on group chats with each other. When all this came to light, these super-stars wound up in jail, and their global fans were left in shock. For the first time, we give the definitive account of the scandal, how it came to light and the explosive fallout, told by the people who were at the heart of uncovering the story. We explore how the case highlighted an ‘epidemic’ of spy-cam crimes, where women are filmed without their consent walking up metro stairs, in public toilets and during sex. And how this abuse and misogyny has driven a wedge between many men and women, so deep that some believe it’s causing an existential crisis for South Korea.

Co-creator, presenter and writer: Chloe Hadjimatheou Location Producer: Lee Hyun Choi Assistant Producer and researcher: Jeong-One Park Translator and researcher: Jinny Yeon Music: Tom Haines at Brain Audio Sound Design: Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio Co-creator and executive producer: Kavita Puri

Previous Episode

Mayday - Bonus: The Evidence Gatherers

In a secret location in a European city is an archive that contains over a million documents. It’s run by a tough-talking Canadian, Bill Wiley, who set up an evidence-gathering organisation funded by Western governments.

Using undercover criminal investigators operating inside a war zone, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) has spent the last eight years extracting official documents from Syria. Wiley says that evidence will prove that the Assad regime has been responsible for a campaign of torture and murder against its own people.

CIJA's documents are being used right now in a criminal case in the West to prosecute members of the Syrian regime. But there are those who would discredit the evidence and the people who gather it. These include a group of respected academics here in the UK who are accused of spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about the war, twisting the narrative so that the Syrian regime becomes the victim and the British government bears responsibility for war crimes.

It is a new kind of warfare being fought not on the ground but on the internet. Who will win?

Writer, producer and presenter Chloe Hadjimatheou Editor Emma Rippon Researchers Orla O’Brien and Lara Al Gibaly Executive producer Maggie Latham Sound design and mix Neil Churchill Mark Fleischman played the role of Prof Paul McKeigue and the role of Ivan Commissioner for Radio 4 Richard Knight

Correction: We stated that Feras Fayyad won an Oscar - instead his films were nominated on two occasions for an Oscar but did not win.

Next Episode

Burning Sun - Ep 1. The Phone Call

“I had no idea how big it was going to be....”

Journalist Park Hyo-sil gets a tip off that music and TV star, Jung Joon-young, is being investigated by police for secretly filming a woman during sex. We find out about Jung, his wholesome, attractive personality and wide popularity. And we meet one of his superfans whose whole life revolves around him. She, like many others, don’t want to believe the accusations against Jung. So when Park publishes her story she encounters an extraordinary backlash. And it gets worse after the woman who made the allegation against Jung withdraws it and the police drop the case. Jung’s career goes from strength to strength. Except, someone has seen what’s on Jung’s phone...and it’s far worse than just one secret sex video. The contents of that phone will shake the K-pop world and South Korea.

For the first time, we give the definitive account of the sex scandals that brought down some of Korea’s biggest K-pop stars. It’s a tale of depravity, power and excess - hidden behind a facade of wholesome pop music.

Co-creator, presenter and writer: Chloe Hadjimatheou Location Producer: Lee Hyun Choi Assistant Producer and researcher: Loonie Park and Jeong-One Park Translator and researcher: Jinny Yeon Music: Tom Haines at Brain Audio Sound Design: Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio Co-creator and executive producer: Kavita Puri

ACTORS Park Hyo-Sil: Julie Yoonnyung Lee Oh Se-Yeon: Rosa Escoda Jung’s accuser: Pricilla Chung Jung Joon-Yung: J Sebastian Lee Drama director: Anne Isger