The South Korean singer and actor Kim Min-jong has denied claims he is part of an illegal celebrity gambling ring.
Kim’s representatives called the accusations “baseless rumors” based on “malicious suspicions,” the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
The comments came a day after the TV celebrity and singer MC Mong accused Kim and several other major public figures of forming a betting group named Badugi.
MC Mong made the accusation during a live broadcast on his TikTok page, where he also accused business leaders of conspiring against him.
Badugi members, said MC Mong, have “offered huge sums of money to women around me, women I don’t know at all, and women working in the entertainment industry” to help run a smear campaign.
But Kim’s legal team said the accusations were “clearly false.”
Kim Min-jong Reputation ‘Tarnished,’ Say Lawyers
“We intend to hold [MC Mong] legally accountable for civil and criminal liability where necessary,” said Kim’s lawyers.
MC Mong said Kim and others had been providing information to the investigative journalism-themed TV show PD Notebook. The show airs regularly on the national broadcast network MBC.
“[Mr. Kim] has received great love from the public,” the lawyers added. “His reputation has been seriously tarnished by these claims.”
“I would like to make it clear that the accusations being discussed are not true,” Kim added in a statement.
Kim shot to fame in the 1990s, appearing in scores of hit TV dramas and movies. His movie credits include Trio, the directorial debut of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix-winning Park Chan-wook.
His more recent cinematic roles include Mrs. Cop (2015), its 2016 sequel, and 2019’s Rosebud.
Kim launched a solo pop career in 1992, and also teamed up with another top actor, Son Ji-chang, to form the pop duo The Blue.
Military Service Controversy
MC Mong, meanwhile, shot to fame as a singer in the early 2000s. He later moved into the world of variety TV, appearing as a regular guest on prime-time shows such as 2 Days & 1 Night.
However, his meteoric rise came to an abrupt halt in 2011 when a branch of the Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of having healthy teeth removed to avoid mandatory military service.
The court handed him a suspended sentence and ordered him to carry out community service.
The event stirred controversy in South Korea, where all males must serve around two years in the armed forces.
His TV work dried up in the wake of the scandal, although his music career later rebounded. MC Mong has since faced further unrelated charges, including failure to declare cash funds worth over $70,000 when leaving the country.
Gambling-related crime is in the spotlight again in South Korea ahead of the June 3 local elections.
A political rival accused Kim Dae-jung, the incumbent education superintendent of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, of “loitering around a gambling den” during an official business trip.
Kim has since admitted visiting an overseas casino in a hotel where he was staying. But the superintendent has claimed he did not gamble during his visit.
