Former Big Bang member Seungri has been accused of recently trying to create a second Burning Sun in Cambodia, a claim that has shocked the public.
Seungri was identified as a key figure in the 2019 Burning Sun gate and caused controversy; he served 1 year and 6 months in prison on nine charges, including prostitution, facilitating prostitution, violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, violation of the Food Sanitation Act, habitual gambling and violation of the foreign exchange transaction law.
After serving his sentence, Seungri was ousted from Korea's entertainment industry and is now active as a businessman. While abroad in places such as Cambodia, he has said, "I will bring G-Dragon here someday," and he has used Big Bang in his business, for example dancing to G-Dragon and Taeyang's "Good Boy," actions that drew frowns.
He has also been spotted domestically on occasion. He was photographed eating a meal with a woman at a pork bone soup restaurant in Songpa District, Seoul, drawing attention, and he appeared at a nightclub in Hangzhou, China. In a photo taken with a businessman, his body looked far larger than during group activities. His jawline had disappeared and his stomach protruded, making one wonder if this was really "Big Bang's Seungri."
Seungri was recently mentioned again because of crimes targeting Koreans in Cambodia. The club pub "Prince Brewing," known to have been operated by the Chinese-Cambodian company Prince Enterprises (Prince Holdings), which has been pointed to as behind crimes in Cambodia, has closed, and it became known that Seungri had visited there in the past.
The relationship between Seungri and Prince Brewing and Prince Holdings is not known. Although Prince Brewing is known as a brand under Prince Holdings, local reports indicate that it often operated simply as a brewery-cum-pub brand, so rumors linking Seungri to Cambodian criminal syndicates seemed to remain a mere incident.
But claims about Seungri's recent whereabouts shocked the public. On the 19th on the YouTube channel "Jiritjirit," reporter Oh Hyuk-jin said, "There are reports that he parties with leaders of Cambodian criminal syndicates, like a second Burning Sun of our country in Cambodia," and "He mingles with money launderers, with people who do voice-phishing and similar things, and mostly with people involved in casinos; there are reports that he parties with leaders of Cambodian criminal syndicates. He must have been trying to create a second Burning Sun-like place of our country in Cambodia."
He added, "In Southeast Asia there is still an image that he is from Big Bang. Because of that, he was apparently preparing illegal businesses, and as far as I know he now mainly goes back and forth to Thailand."
What seemed like a mere incident in which Seungri was linked to Cambodian criminal syndicates entered a new phase with allegations that he parties with their leaders and is trying to create a second Burning Sun. Once again Seungri's name is heating up the entertainment industry.
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