![Joo Hak-nyeon, former member of K-pop group The Boyz. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/02/news-p.v1.20260602.67f31e678ec044a5a851efeb8b0599a4_P1.jpg)
The reporter who published prostitution allegations against Joo Hak-nyeon, a former member of K-pop group The Boyz, has been indicted.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division 1, led by Chief Prosecutor Hwang Su-yeon, indicted reporter Choi on May 12 on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. Choi was indicted without detention.
Choi is accused of posting a false article online in June last year claiming that Joo had paid for sex with Asuka Kirara, a Japanese adult video actress turned social media influencer, at a private bar in Tokyo the previous month. The article also stated that Joo had "ultimately admitted to the act of prostitution after his agency presented concrete evidence."
Following the report, a complaint was filed asking police to investigate Joo on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Arrangement of Commercial Sex Acts. His agency, One Hundred, announced his departure from the group and the termination of his exclusive contract, saying it "took the gravity of the matter seriously" and "clearly recognized that it had become difficult to continue trusting him as an artist."
Joo denied the allegations in a handwritten statement, saying he had "never committed any illegal act whatsoever." He also accused his agency of trying to manufacture grounds for terminating his contract where none existed under the agreement. He said the agency had demanded more than 2 billion won (about $1.32 million) in damages and told him to leave the company — a demand he said he never accepted.
Joo added that he would "hold the reporter and media outlet that labeled me a sex criminal without any basis fully accountable" and confirmed he had filed a complaint against the reporter.
Police received Joo's complaint in June last year and launched an investigation, forwarding the case to prosecutors in March this year.
Choi told police during questioning that he had not known the prostitution allegations were false, according to the Kyunghyang Shinmun.
Meanwhile, a separate complaint filed with the Gangnam Police Station asking investigators to probe Joo himself on prostitution charges was closed without referral in June of the same year. Police determined that the complaint was based largely on internet news articles and that there were insufficient specific grounds or circumstances to open a formal investigation.
betterj@heraldcorp.com
