LEE MOONHO
& LEE SUNGHYUN.

Lee Moonho and Lee Sunghyun were the two co-CEOs of Burning Sun.
Although they shared the same title, Korean reporting indicates that
their functions inside the club were different: Moonho was associated
primarily with the club’s sales and entertainment operations, while
Sunghyun handled finance and accounting and represented the hotel-side
interest in management.

WHO OWNED BURNING SUN?

During the 2019 investigation, police and Korean news outlets reported
Burning Sun’s ownership as divided between five interests. The hotel
operator, Jeonwon Industries, was the largest individual shareholder.
Yuri Holdings and Taiwanese investor Madam Lin each held 20 percent,
while Moonho and Sunghyun personally held smaller stakes.

HOW THE TWO CEOs OPERATED.

THE DRUG CASE.

Drug allegations against Moonho became public early in the investigation.
He initially denied using drugs and denied knowledge of drug distribution
inside Burning Sun. Testing later returned a positive result for narcotics,
and police pursued a criminal case against him for repeated drug use.

Police also investigated whether Moonho had participated in drug
distribution inside the club. That distinction is important: when the
case progressed, Korean reporting stated that police were unable to
establish the distribution allegation against him and proceeded on
drug-use offenses.

THE CEO WHO STAYED OUT OF VIEW.

Compared with Moonho, Sunghyun received remarkably little sustained
media attention. Yet the contemporary Korean record places him inside
several important parts of the Burning Sun investigation.

He was not simply an unnamed executive standing outside the scandal.
He held an eight-percent personal stake, represented the hotel side of
the club’s management structure, handled finances, and was directly
questioned during the investigation into an alleged attempt to interfere
with the handling of an underage-entry case.

THE ₩20 MILLION.

One of the most important allegations involving Sunghyun originated
with a July 2018 incident in which a minor entered Burning Sun. The
club faced the possibility of an administrative suspension.

During the later investigation, Sunghyun acknowledged that he had
provided 20 million won to the side of former police officer Kang.
Sunghyun told investigators that he did not know the money would
ultimately be passed to police officers.

Moonho separately told Weekly Kyunghyang that Kang had asked
Sunghyun to prepare 20 million won and said he would handle the
underage-entry problem. According to Moonho’s account, Sunghyun
obtained the money from his mother and acted without involving Moonho.

INVESTIGATION IS NOT
THE SAME AS CONVICTION.

Both Burning Sun CEOs were investigated beyond the allegations for
which clear final judgments are readily available. In April 2019,
police booked both Moonho and Sunghyun as part of an investigation
into suspicious movements of Burning Sun funds. Police were examining
payments connected to Jeonwon Industries, Yuri Holdings, and Madam Lin’s
side of the business.

Contemporary reporting described investigators examining roughly
two billion won in suspected misappropriated club funds. That
investigation involved numerous people and several distinct alleged
payment routes. Being booked during that investigation did not itself
establish that either CEO was ultimately convicted of embezzlement.

The Korean reporting reviewed for this archive provides a clear final
judgment for Moonho’s drug case and a clear final outcome for the former
police officer prosecuted in connection with Sunghyun’s 20-million-won
payment. A comparably clear final criminal judgment against Sunghyun
himself has not been identified in the sources reviewed for this page.
The archive therefore does not characterize him as convicted of crimes
that the available record only shows were investigated.

THE RECORD.

SOURCES.

This page prioritizes contemporary Korean reporting on the police
investigation, court proceedings, ownership structure, and statements
from the people directly involved.