Just yesterday multiple articles surrounding the arrest of Open World Entertainment's CEO Jang Seokwoo surfaced on the internet. The company's CEO was revealed to have been arrested on alleged charges of sexual harassment, assault, and rape of his agency's artists and trainees.
The CEO was arrested upon arrival in Korea after he and one of the company's boy groups came back from Japan. He was taken by undercover investigators after reports were filed a month ago, indicating his crimes as he is said to have assaulted at least 6 trainees. Officials have now already interviewed over 20 victims, uncovering more details surrounding the case. The police confiscated all CCTV footage of the building, and narrowed their field of interest down to the company's fifth floor, and the practice studio in the basement, where the assaults were revealed to have taken place.
The girl group trainees he allegedly assaulted were personally taken care of by the CEO, as he even did all their debut preparations himself, as well as driving them around in a van. The girls are no longer part of the company at the moment.
In light of the recent happenings with the company, and the rumors which have since appeared, Open World Entertainment has personally asked fans of the idols under the company to calm down and to try not to overload the members of the groups with Twitter accounts with tweets. The members of both X-5 and The Boss were revealed to be under great stress due to the situation, and the gigantic amount of messages and comments. Since the issue started, boy group members have been noted to leave cryptic messages on their social network accounts, leaving fans to worry about their health and state of mind.
After a press conference, the company also issued a statement on the matter, saying that they intend to sue organizations and media companies for "Defamation of Character Due to False, Exaggerated Reports, and Interference of Work", after multiple articles surrounding rumors having any of the company's artists involved in the case appeared. They clearly stated that apart from the CEO, none of Open World Entertainment's artists are involved with the case, and any articles involving them will be reacted upon.
"Exaggerations and false reports (such as the number of victims being over 20, or company artists being involved on the matter) by a portion of the media reports on Open World Entertainment’s CEO Jang Seokwoo and on the confiscation, investigation, and arrest. By releasing the real names and pictures of stars under the agency who have nothing to do with the suspicions concerning the CEO, artists and the reputation of Open World Entertainment have been defamed, causing loss and setbacks in work.
Shedding light on such a situation, on behalf of the Open World Entertainment’s officials and agency artists, CEO Jang Seokwoo’s legal representatives request the withdrawal of articles, and will take legal action against media outlets that do not issue out correction apology articles as well as the rest of the media outlets that have been blindly following the false, exaggerated reports, and will also make sure that there will be no reports defaming agency artists."
_____________________________________________________________
After rumors emerged surrounding the case of Open World Entertainment's CEO, Jang Seokwoo, the police confirmed the involvement of another adult. The person, referred to as "A", was said to be an acquaintance of Jang Seokwoo, and not from the company itself. "A" is supposed to be 38 years old.
The police stated on April 17th that apart from the earlier reports that two male group members were involved, an inactive singer was also revealed to have ties to the matter. The man in his thirties was said to have been part of the sexual assault cases involving female trainees under Open World Entertainment, and might have even participated voluntarily. "A" was summoned for investigations on the same day as Jang Seokwoo, after which he was said to have been arrested on April 18th, following the issuing of an arrest warrant.
In addition, an idol singer who was allegedly ordered by Jang Seokwoo to rape female trainees is also currently under investigation. Investigation results revealed that the idol singer did indeed harass the girls, while Jang Seokwoo watched the act in real-time through CCTVs installed in the practice room. The idol member participating in the acts has been involved in this situation since his teenage years.
While discussing the involvement of male group members, Open World Entertainment revealed that none of the artists mentioned in recent articles have had anything to do with the case. A statement [1], titled "We bow our heads in apology," revealed their view on the whole situation, even concluding that for now the company would remain closed, and that all of the staff and artists have left the building.
"First of all, we will reflect on the horrible incident that has occurred, and for causing everyone so much disappointment and anxiety. We bow our heads in apology.
We're sorry to make this announcement so late.
It is absolutely false that Open World Entertainment's artists are involved in the case, as is being reported in the media. They have no connection at all.
The artists are deeply hurt by the proliferation of such unverified reports. We beg you to refrain from reading such speculative articles that implicate the artists solely on the fact that they belong to our agency, so that they will not be hurt any further.
We bow our heads in apology once again for causing distrust and anxiety to everyone through his horrible incident. Once again we beg that no more artists are made victims because of this case."
Even though Open World Entertainment has revealed that no one was involved in the case, and reports have mentioned that the assaults started as early as 2008 and continued on until August 2011, only members of The Boss have been officially cleared by the police for now, leaving fans to wait for further information on X-5, as well as LUG members Horam and Kangho, who are still part of the agency.
With that possible time span in mind, some people would automatically be ruled out. The Boss came to Open World Entertainment at the end of 2009, when the 4th generation of Xing, which they had all been a part of, disbanded. About three to four months later, they debuted as The Boss in early March 2010. They promoted their first mini album, "Awake," in June, before heading to Japan in September, where they have been promoting ever since, only returning to Korea for a subunit release in February, and a single release in October of 2011. Two of X-5's members were previously in Xing's 5th generation, only moving towards Open World Entertainment at the end of 2010, where they were joined by two members of 3Chongsa, a pop trot group, before finally debuting with an additional member in April 2011. LUG, on the other hand, debuted under the agency in 2006 as a four member group. They went on to release a second album as a duo in 2008, after which the vocalist also unveiled a solo release in 2009.
The police are tight-lipped as investigations are still ongoing, though people close to The Boss' members, such as ulzzang Lee Chihoon who posted up a short Tweet [2], and leader Mika's father who posted up a statement [3], had already stated that the boys weren't involved. The Boss' Japanese company also revealed their stance on the case, stating that the group wasn't involved in anything, promising to keep the fans updated if other news shows up. Though the release of their first Korean full length album was postponed, the release of their first Japanese live DVD will go ahead as planned.
"Hello. This is Suhoon (Mika)'s Father. All of you fans have had so much worry and heartache!!
Please don't worry too much and please wait for The Boss. The members have also suffered mentally and physically from experiencing such an embarrassing and sudden situation. They are very distressed but are wisely enduring it well. Open World Entertainment is also trying to overcome this hard and difficult ordeal and to repay the fans for their support, they are putting in a lot of hard work and effort to solve the ongoing situation. The Boss will overcome these challenges and come back as a more beautiful and mature group for the fans.
Also, I want to inform you that this incident has NO RELATION to The Boss.
Fans, we hope you will give The Boss much love and support."
With many trainees involved in the situation, it is sparking interest across many different companies. There are countless female trainees who are currently hard at work preparing for their respective debuts, so worries are arising. A spokesperson from the entertainment industry commented, "There are plenty of worries now that this case is going to spark something off even in other agencies. It is not a common thing in this era so concerns are high over the bad image this case might bring."
Upon hearing the news of Jang Seokwoo's arrest, a female named "B", spoke to a media source, talking about the terrifying experience she had had nine years ago when she first met with the company's CEO after an audition. Though not confirmed by other sources, she allegedly talked about being asked to get dressed while the CEO was watching, as well as being harassed and demanded to take off her clothes by another person named "C". She was quoted saying, "Some time ago I saw an article, and the contents were similar. How could he have ordered a male singer to assault the girls? I will never forget that name."
Jang Seokwoo was arrested earlier this month, upon his return from Japan after the police had been tipped off about his assaults. According to the police, he has been under suspicion for months for having assaulted and raped female trainees. After securing statements from victims, they got an arrest warrant. The police have seized the CCTV footage and have been speeding up the investigation with other evidence, such as phone records and witnesses.
At first, the CEO complained of unfairness, but he eventually acknowledged his involvement, even confirming six assaults. This number has now gone up to eleven, with two of the girls still in their teens. Items confiscated from Jang Seokwoo's office include CCTV footage, aphrodisiacs, and a vibrator, amongst others.
The police will finish their report and intend to submit the papers for prosecution on the 19th.
_______________________________________________________________
While the case of Open World Entertainment's CEO Jang Seokwoo is still continuing, more articles have been showing up adding more information about what happened and will possibly happen in the future.
In light of the recent happenings, reporters from Sports Chosun met with an ex-OWE trainee earlier this month, to talk about understanding the life of trainees in Korean companies. Regarding the CEO's involvement in close to 10 harassment and rape cases, she said, "I think it's something that well could have happened. I had a lot of trainee friends and it's something I heard often. Even though 'rape' wasn't exactly mentioned, I've often heard of him touching their bodies or suggesting that they go somewhere secret to have sex." She went on to mention that trainees had to go out whenever he called them, and that they often went for karaoke. During those events, other people were often sitting there and after having a few drinks, and they would get touchy. Apart from the trainee life, she also talked about the CEO's many relationships, including those with two members of a famous girl group. She continued, "She told me, 'Even though you can earn a lot from this, I hope you don't do it too.' She's someone I've been close to since I was young. It was difficult for her." This trainee is currently preparing for her debut as a singer through another company. She was said to have had no choice but to leave the company after refusing to provide sexual favors at an investor's request. The ex-trainee left the company just last year after Jang Seokwoo started asking her to do things she didn't want to do.
At the same time, the schedules of two of the company's idol groups have been halted. While The Boss was supposed to make their long-awaited comeback through their first full length album release, and labelmates X-5 were supposed to start their first activities in Japan for their Japanese advancement. After news about the CEO's involvement in various cases came up, both of their schedules were put on hold, resulting in a now very unclear future for both of them. Open World Entertainment has voiced their intentions of doing whatever they can to secure their artists' careers, and even stated that if they want, a transfer to another company could be made. At the same time The Boss is still receiving a full backing from their Japanese label as well as management, and if a Korean label transfer happens, the group's contract will have to be talked over with representatives from Japan as well as to not endanger their future Japanese career. At the moment, both groups' future is still uncertain, as the predominant view is that they should watch and wait with the investigation of CEO Jang Seokwoo still going on. A solo singer under the company is said to have canceled his contract with the label, and is highly likely to move to another agency. A source from the entertainment industry commented on this last development, saying, "While it's difficult to move rookie groups to another agency, it is a singer with an established fan base, and so he can move to another agency if he wants to."
With Open World Entertainment's previous statement fresh in our minds, it was now officially revealed that the boy group members allegedly involved in the case were cleared of all charges and assumptions made against them. While it was earlier mentioned that one of the members had been involved in the harassment since his teenage years, no mention of this has been made since and charges have been dropped. A representative of Open World Entertainment mentioned on behalf of the members, "They feel very intimidated because they say they haven't done anything wrong, but the investigators keep picking on trivial things, and the media has been paying explosive attention to it. They just hope everything can be settled quickly."
The company has been around since September 2000, and has housed many different artists ever since, including management contracts with Shinhwa and its members Junjin and Lee Minwoo. More recent debuts include boy groups The Boss, X-5 and Lug, as well as actor Go Joowon and actress Shin Jisoo. The future of Open World Entertainment is very unsure at the moment, and will most likely only clear up when this case comes to a close.
