Singapore – Kim Lim, the daughter of Singaporean business magnate Peter Lim, has taken to Instagram to deny all allegations regarding her connection to former Korean pop star and Big Bang member Seungri, and his recent scandal.
Seungri, 28, is currently facing accusations of having been involved in illegal activities such as sharing sexually intimate videos of women without their consent in an online group chat and providing sex workers to foreign businessmen in Seoul.
His upmarket nightclub Burning Sun was alleged to have been a venue for sexual assault, the drugging of female sex workers and drug distribution, among others.
The alleged link to Kim Lim
It was during his Mar 22 in-depth interview on the scandal with a major South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo (translated and released by Koreaboo on Mar 23) where Seungri first brought up Kim Lim’s name .
A part of the interview focuses on the instant mobile Kakaotalk messages consisting of the alleged prostitution solicitations.
Seungri, who had been performing in Japan during Lim’s visit to Korea, had allegedly sent a message to a male individual named “Kim” to accommodate the Singaporean socialite’s visit at the club.
Kim’s reply had been as follows: “We’re going to give them two main seats and bodyguards. We’ll take good care of them.”
To this, Seungri had replied, “Okay. What about girls? Give them the easy ones.”
In the interview, Seungri explains that the message was from 2015, and with no context before, or after, the message “could have been fabricated.”
“Honestly I can’t believe that I sent that message, I’m really embarrassed and ashamed,” he laments.
Seungri then explains who the topic of the conversation was:
“The foreigner was a Singaporean female by the name of Kimmy. She is the daughter of a famous foreign soccer team owner. She is not a foreign investor. Mr. Kim, who was in the same chatroom as us, said he was in Korea and wanted to go to ARENA quietly. He said Kimmy gave us a lot of help, so we should take care of her.”
Lim’s billionaire father Peter Lim is the owner of Spanish football club Valencia CF.
Kim Lim and Seungri had also been spotted together in a football match back in 2015.
With her name having been dropped by Seungri in such unsavoury instances, and in spite of having attended a 2015 football match in Spain with Seungri , Lim was quick to clarify her situation and denounce all relations to the scandal via her Instagram account.
She explains that she had indeed been in Seoul on the mentioned date and that Seungri had arranged a VIP table for her, and her friends from Singapore. However, Lim and her friends had partied, and left without having been accompanied by other staff, nor the alleged “easy girls.”
Lim admits that it was the wrong timing and location of her activity that had gotten her name entangled in the scandal.
She goes on to explain that she had received a confusing phone call from Seungri some time before the scandal had broken out: “He asked me a few weird questions and hung up.”
Read her full Instagram story below:
“Today, a media statement was released by Seungri’s lawyer telling his side of the story. The article suggested that he arranged for me to party together with other girls, which he claims are not prostitutes.
To clarify, on 9 December 2015, I was in Korea with my friends from Singapore. We went to Club Arena for a night out, and Seungri arranged for a VIP table for our group. We partied by ourselves and left after.
In NO WAY were there other patrons or staff who accompanied our group. I certainly never asked for any “girls” to party with me. This can be vouched for by the 4 people who were part of our group that night.
I am embroiled this matter simply because I HAPPENED TO BE THERE THAT NIGHT. I was simply at the wrong place and the wrong time.
My name has been embroiled in the Kpop scandal that’s unfolding right now in South Korea.
Sometime before the news broke, I received a phone call from Seungri. It turns out there had been a leaked conversation of him allegedly soliciting prostitutes for his investors. He asked me a few weird questions and hung up. I don’t know why he called me and how I was involved in this saga at all. Needless to say, after the call I was left completely confused.
When this news broke out, Seungri said the chat is entirely fabricated and that it’s fake news. However, the police later says it isn’t.”
Meanwhile, Seungri announced (translated from Korean) his complete retirement from the entertainment industry on Instagram on Mar 11:
“I think it would be good for me to retire from the entertainment industry at this point. I have decided to retire from the entertainment industry because the issues that caused social controversy are so great. I will reveal all suspicions that have been sincerely investigated in the matter under investigation. In the past month, I have been criticized and hated by the people, and now all the domestic investigative agencies are investigating me, and I am being pushed back to the people. I can’t tolerate myself to live alone and to avoid everyone around me. I am very grateful to all the fans in Korea and abroad for their love for the last 10 years and I am here for the goodwill and big bang honor. Again, sorry and sorry. Thank you all for all the time.”
The Burning Sun nightclub is said to have ceased its operations when police raids were first conducted on its premises on Feb 17.
Investigations are still ongoing for Seungri’s case with more details of the scandal unfolding.
Read more on the scandal below:
https://theindependent.sg.sg/k-pop-star-seungris-sex-trade-scandal-rocks-showbiz-industry/