Los Angeles Times

K-pop's K-porn problem: Growing scandal highlights South Korea's spy-cam epidemic

SEOUL, South Korea - It started a few years ago with a small group of young men texting each other evidence of their sexual exploits - photographs and videos allegedly made without consent of the women who appeared in them.

It might have ended there, too, if some of the participants were not stars of the multibillion-dollar South Korean music industry known as K-pop.

Some of its biggest names have been implicated in an evolving police investigation that has shaken the country.

Jung Joon-young, a 30-year-old wiry, tousled-haired guitarist who rose to fame through a Korean version of "American Idol," was arrested March 21 on suspicion of filming at least 11 women without their consent and distributing the footage.

Lee Seung-hyun - a 28-year-old better known as Seungri

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