Model and actor Lee Cheol-woo denied allegations of involvement in singer Jung Joon-young's KakaoTalk group chat, which was uncovered during the Burning Sun scandal.

Lee, who currently appears in the tvN drama “Lovely Runner” as Hyung-gu, a swimming student jealous of the protagonist, was accused of being involved in Jung’s notorious chatroom, exposed during the Burning Sun scandal revelations.

The Burning Sun scandal is a 2019 entertainment industry scandal, which involved sex solicitation, illegally filmed sex videos and corruption among celebrities, entrepreneurs and law enforcement.

Jung was convicted of rape and of sharing numerous sex videos that he filmed without consent. The videos were distributed in the group chat that was brought to light during an investigation into the scandal.


Lee uploaded a post on his social media account on Monday, stating, "I would like to reiterate that I was not included in the chat room as I had stated through my agency at the time."

Lee said he was in an online chat room with Jung, but only for professional reasons.

"The chat room I'm referred to as having been in during the incident was specifically for sharing the schedule and content needed for filming when I appeared on the JTBC show 'Hitmaker' in 2016," Lee said.

"We didn't talk about anything private other than what was related to the program, and the chatroom ended after the program was over."

"It is not just me, but also my family and acquaintances who are suffering from years of false information and malicious comments," Lee said. "We sincerely ask you to refrain from making reckless speculations, and we will strongly respond to malicious comments and sharing of false information from here on."

"We would like to clearly inform you that Lee is not included in the chat room in question," said Lee’s agency.

This is Lee's second explanation following the one that came in April 2019, when he was first accused of being a member of the infamous chatroom involved in the Burning Sun case.

Lee was never contacted by the police or other related institutions, according to the agency.

Lee was working as a model in 2014 and placed second in OnStyle's fashion model competition program "Korea's Next Top Model: Guys & Girls."

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BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]