Behind The Burning Sun: Research Archive

Lee Jonghyun

A young man with dark hair wearing a navy blazer and a white shirt, standing in front of a blurred background.

While early chat transcripts incorrectly assumed “Singer Lee” was Lee Seungri, it was eventually revealed that Lee Jonghyun was the last celebrity member of the molka group chat. Since Lee neither participated or was present for the gangrape nor ever shared molka himself, Lee was the only member of the molka group chat to escape legal consequences. This has been the source of major criticism of early molka laws. Although such laws have been tightened since, Lee escaped legal trouble due to the fact that viewing molka, at the time, was still legal.

Lee has been embroiled in other scandals since Burning Sun, with netizens examining old interactions between him and female co-stars, as well as a new controversy involving him DMing a YouTuber “sleazy” messages.

Sources:

https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/lee-jong-hyun-leaves-cnblue-after-sleazy-dms-youtuber-exposed

https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/056/0010769771?sid=102