Singer Ju Hak-nyeon cleared of charges over alleged prostitution activities
South Korean singer Ju Hak-nyeon, formerly of K-pop boy band The Boyz, will not face charges after he was accused of being involved in prostitution activities.
The 26-year-old was in June when the South Korean media reported that his then agency, One Hundred Label, had received an enquiry from Japanese tabloid Shukan Bunshun about his personal meeting with Kirara Asuka, a Japanese adult film actress-turned-influencer, in Tokyo in late May.
A South Korean media outlet claimed that he had allegedly paid for sex with the 36-year-old woman.
The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul then received a complaint on June 19 from a netizen requesting an investigation into Ju.
On July 2, South Korean media outlet Sports Kyunghyang reported that the police had decided on June 25 not to prosecute Ju, as the complaint was based on an Internet article and that there were insufficient specific reasons or circumstances to initiate an investigation.
Ju had admitted on June 19 in a letter of apology on Instagram Stories to meeting Asuka, but denied rumours of being involved in prostitution activities. The apology came after he was booted from The Boyz on June 18.
He wrote another post on Instagram on June 20, threatening to take legal action against media outlets which continued to spread false information about him. He also said that he was removed from The Boyz with no valid reasons and that his contract termination was done unilaterally by One Hundred Label.
The company defended its decision on the same day, saying that he was suspended as the controversy had affected The Boyz's activities and that it provided grounds for contract termination. One Hundred Label warned that it would take legal action against Ju if he continued to repeat the distorted claims.
Asuka broke her silence on social media platform X on June 21, saying that she had never accepted money for private sexual services, including during the encounter with Ju.
The singer then took to social media on June 22, denying the prostitution allegation again and detailing the sequence of events leading to his sacking from The Boyz.
South Korean newspaper The Korea Herald said that a court ruling is expected to determine whether the contract termination is lawful. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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