Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Stout]

Interesting in light of the fact that its youngest member was formerly accused of raping an aspiring K-pop starlet.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2011/12/135_100688.html

Legendary idol group H.O.T, which stands for High-five of Teenagers, just might be returning to the limelight.

A guest on an OBS cable TV program to be aired Thursday, the group�s leader, Moon Hee-jun, revealed that the idol group has plans of a comeback, but details still need to be figured out. He also said the members have all agreed to negotiate with Lee Soo-man, CEO of SM Entertainment, who produced the group in the early 1990s.

Fans have been anxiously waiting for the return of one of Korea�s most influential pop bands and word has spread like wildfire on the Internet regarding this event that could be fast approaching.

The members are now in their early to mid-30s and the group�s youngest member, Lee Jae-won, 31, was the last to be discharged from the Army earlier this year.



Former H.O.T Member Lee Jae Won Might Still Be Charged With Rape BIG BIG NEWS #1 runaway Posted 22 December 2008 - 06:12 AM
The Aerospace Engineer

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06-March 07 Lee Jae Won, a former member of popular idol group H.O.T back in the 90s and was earlier alleged to have raped a female trainee, has been cleared of all charges after the latter withdrew her appeal in a day of drama.

http://forums.boajjang.com/index.php?showtopic=109798

Former H.O.T Member Lee Jae Won Might Still Be Charged With Rape

December 19, 2008 by coolsmurf

Lee Jae Won, a former member of popular idol group H.O.T back in the 90s and was earlier alleged to have raped a female trainee, has been cleared of all charges after the latter withdrew her appeal in a day of drama.

Lee Jae Won

According to a police statement, Lee Jae Won was alleged to have commited the offence last month with the victim (female trainee) claiming that Lee Jae Won had lured her into a situation where she couldn�t resist and raped her.

A representative for the police station expressed, �Lee Jae Won has denied the rape allegation and explained that sexual intercourse took place after they both got drunk (without being aware of what was happening). As the victim has asked for Lee Jae Won to be put on trial while the latter has denied raping her, the case had to be futher investigated before further action could be taken.

Lee Jae Won was called up for investigation early this morning. Since news broke, Lee Jae Won�s Cyworld has been bombarded by netizens and fans. Most of his fans couldn�t believe that this has happened and hope this isn�t true.

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the following are the latest developments (credit: elisa@DTH/elisa*@soompi)
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The woman has negotiated to cancel her appeal to the court.

Lee Jae Won�s management company stated, �The woman who had initially sued (Lee Jae Won) has stated that she does not want any legal punishment and will be submitting her documents canceling her court request. The problem has been resolved as a misunderstanding between the two parties�.

Lee Jae Won�s party stated, �The woman (and Lee Jae Won) have known each other for quite a while, so there was no force used whatsoever. This issue occurred because of a problem between the two. Lee Jae Won is undergoing a big struggle and feels very apologetic toward his fans.�

Despite the woman withdrawing her charge, the police are going ahead with investigations and have gathered some evidence against Lee Jae Won. The police stated that despite the woman settling the issue with Lee Jae Won in private, it will not affect investigations since a charge had been filed. The police will hand over their findings to the court after they are done with investigations. The court will rule within 20 days on whether they will prosecute Lee Jae Won. If the rape charge against Lee Jae Won stands, he could face time in jail.

23 December 2008 - 01:25 AM
The Aerospace Engineer

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06-March 07 UPDATED:

Former H.O.T member, Lee Jae Won who was accused of rape last Friday by a female trainee, gave his side of the story in a phone interview yesterday.

In a phone interview with Edaily SPN, Lee Jae Won pleaded his innocence at being misunderstood by everyone, �I swear to God that I did not force or lure Kim (the female trainee) to drink alcohol. Nor did I resort to violence. Despite the numerous news reports which say otherwise (false reporting) and caused me lots of hurt, I have to say sorry for creating such a ruckus. I hope that the other party will not suffer any hurt because of this whole issue as well.�

According to Lee Jae Won, he explained that on 10th December, he was with the female trainee, his manager and another person named Lee. All 4 were together drinking until the very end. The female trainee, Kim was dead drunk and couldn�t control herself anymore. Lee Jae Won and his manager could only bring Kim to a motel near her home in Yeoksam. Kim�s outer jacket was a mess with her vomitting, so they took it off and washed it before leaving together. But Kim misunderstood the whole thing and the rape allegation followed.

Lee Jae Won was hauled up for questioning on the morning of 19th December but reached an agreement with Kim at noon to settle the issue. But the agreement did not reach the police station until the late hours and Lee Jae Won was only released from custody and cleared of all charges by 11.15pm.

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The following is a translation by fULL_mOOn@Soompi of a message by the female trainee, Kim to Lee Jae Won�s management company, expressing her regret over what had happened and clearing the misunderstanding.

�On the night of 9th December, I met with 2 managers of the company and also Lee Jae Won. We went out to have some drinks and after one of the managers left, the rest of us continued to drink till I got drunk and was vomiting continuously. As such, Jae Won Oppa and the other manager was worried about my health but unsure of the exact location of my house and thus they sent me to the motel. I was alarmed the next morning, when I found out that I was in a motel! Those who left the night before had also played a prank on me and thus the misunderstanding was even deeper. I thus, sued Lee Jae Won and the 3 managers but later withdrew my appeal after knowing the truth.

I felt that there is a need for me to speak up since there was misinterpretion between the news and the truth. I grew up listening to H.O.T and hope to build a friendly hoobae - sunbae relationship with Jae Won oppa. I sincerely hope that this would not affect H.O.T�s reputation and Jae Won�s solo activities.�

[bekinseki]

Have we really come to the stage where a band that was active between 1996 and 2001 can be considered "vintage?"

PS) If you think K-pop sucks now, you should've heard it in the '90s.

[DIsbell]

Ah, so sticking it in when you're unconscious after dragging you to a love motel is just a "friendly hoobae-sunbae" prank.

[pkang0202]

Not to say I doubt what happened, but it could also be possible the rape allegations were made up.

On one hand, celebrities use their status to take advantage of people.

On the other hand, they can also be the target of people who want to take advantage of them.

Always 2 sides to a coin.

[nero]

Ew. I hope they've gotten rid of their cockroach hair.

[seoulsucker]