One Of Jung Joon Young’s Chatroom Victim’s Creates A Petition Pleading For More Protection

The Burning Sun Scandal that happened back in 2019 will forever be remembered as one of the largest scandals to take place in South Korea. The involvement of numerous celebrities and police officials made the controversy even more shocking, as they admitted to their participation in different sex crimes.

Singer Jung Joon Young was revealed as one of the main perpetrators of the scandal for his involvement in the infamous KakaoTalk chatrooms. It was reported that between 2015 and 2016, he distributed and shared footage of his sexual encounters in various chatrooms. He was accused of illegally filming without obtaining consent from the women and was also accused of raping numerous others while they were unconscious.

While this may have happened 5-6 years ago, the victims of Jung Joon Young’s sex videos and chatrooms are still suffering to this day from the trauma that they endured. Jung Joon Young’s case may have concluded, but it seems that not much was done for the victims of the scandal. One particular victim has stepped forward to take matters into her own hands by creating an official Blue House petition pleading for more protection for the victims.

While the victim previously made headlines for withdrawing her lawsuit against Jung Joon Young, she explained her decision for the withdrawal, as well as the reason behind the creation of this petition.

I am the victim who sued Jung Joon Young for the 2016 illegal filming.

At the time, it was difficult for me to cope and acknowledge that I had become the victim of a sex crime. It was even more difficult since the entire situation became publicized and more attention was given to it than normal.

I withdrew my lawsuit because of the fear that I had. I was worried that I would be countersued, but also the long-term litigation that would inevitably happen because of his status as a celebrity also worried me. I did not have the courage to express my position due to the heavily publicized situation back then, but now I want to correct the wrongdoings and raise awareness regarding the secondary perpetrators in our society.

— Petition creator

She jumped into the petition by sharing the 4 things that she believes needs to change to ensure better protection for sex crime victims.

Firstly, we demand disciplinary action against YouTubers and media sites who insult the victims. I was deeply hurt by the irresponsible reports made by the media. The media portrayed to be a provocative person who sued Jung Joon Young out of malicious intent because he had a ‘change of heart.’ At one point, the media reported that I had consented to the filming, which is not true.

Secondly, we ask that the comment section under sex crime news reports be disabled. As the incident continued to make headlines, I suffered endless malicious comments. After the 2016 incident, I received psychiatric treatment and was unable to further my studies due to my unstable mental condition.

Thirdly, we urge that the legislation of the Sexual Crimes Act be taken seriously. In 2016 and 2019, ‘Jung Joon Young videos’ and ‘Jung Joon Young girls’ were ranking first on search engines. I was shocked that netizens were actively searching for the illegal footage. I didn’t want to live anymore after seeing that.

Lastly, we ask for the protection of the victims’ personal informations. Victims of sexual assault never fully recover, however, it is difficult to sue for damages against the perpetrator. This is due to the fear that the perpetrator will leak the victim’s personal information during the course of the lawsuit. Most victims fail to receive any compensation after suffering a crime due to the retaliation made by the perpetrators. We believe that a victim’s personal information should be just as protected as a criminal’s proceedings.

— Petition creator

This petition went viral on an online community after a netizen shared it with their fellow community users. Since it was posted, more than 13,000 people signed the petition to support the victim and her pleads.

Jung Joon Young was sentenced to 5 years in prison in November of 2019 and has since been serving his prison sentence.