Goo Hara, a former member of the girl group Kara, was found dead at her home on Sunday, November 24, but police ruled out foul play in her death. Hara died at the age of 28.
Following her death, SBS funE reporter Kang Kyung-yoon paid tribute to her on a recent broadcast of the Korean show, Joo Young Jin’s News Briefing.
Kang Kyung-yoon revealed that Goo Hara helped her investigate Jung Joon-young’s chat room scandal involving K-pop stars Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon and she helped to “uncover the truth.”
Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon received prison sentences earlier today after they were convicted of sexual assault.
Jung Joon-young, 30, was one of two K-pop stars sentenced on Friday after the Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of conspiring to sexually assault a woman who was not capable of giving consent to sex at the time.
Jung Joon-young received a six-year prison sentence, while Choi Jong-hoon, 30, received a five-year sentence. The courts also ordered them to complete 80 hours of sexual violence education.
They are also banned from working with organizations that deal with children and teenagers.
Jung Joon-young was also accused of sharing footage of women having sex without their consent. He reportedly shared the footage to members of an online chatroom that included celebrities.
Journalist Kang Kyung-yoon said that after Goo Hara’s friend, actress and singer Sulli, was found dead by suicide at her home in October, she contacted the singer and encouraged her to help expose the truth.
She said that Goo Hara was willing to help because of her personal experience with her boyfriend Choi Jong-bum, whom she accused of being abusive and filming her without her consent. He also allegedly threatened to release the sex tape.
Kang Kyung-yoon said Goo Hara later contacted her and provided assistance but she did not give details about the assistance that she offered.
“She said she wanted to help in any way she could to uncover the truth behind the case, and she actually provided lots of help,” Kang said.
In May, Goo Hara was found unconscious at her home in what was believed to be a suicide attempt. She was the target of nasty online comments after the story of her allegations against Choi Jong-bum made headlines.
Choi Jong-bum was eventually found not guilty of filming Goo Hara. Instead, he received a suspended sentence of one year and six months after he was convicted of assault, intimidation, damage of property, and coercion.
Before she was found dead at home on Nov 24, Goo appeared to have moved on from the scandal and she went on a tour of Japan.
Kang noted that the scandal involving Choi affected her and that she was hurt that the court acquitted Choi of the charge of filming her without her consent.