Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Hey, remember the case of former THE BOYZ member Ju Haknyeon, where he got kicked out of his group after he denied allegations of involvement with former JAV star Kirara Asuka?
Well, you can catch up on all that in the tag, but basically he got kicked out after reports emerged that he paid her for sex, then both parties issued an emphatic denial, he accused the company of unilaterally terminating him to attempt collecting a termination fee, police later cleared him after investigating the prostitution claim, and he ended up suing the reporter.
That’s where at least I last left things.
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Well, skip ahead months later to December of last year, and Haknyeon talked to Jeff Benjamin of Billboard about what had been happening.
Haknyeon again explained the Kirara situation, clarifying that they were drinking in a group despite it being framed like a date, and that when they conversed he talked to her about the various businesses she runs now. Notably, he revealed that ONE HUNDRED doubled down on their desire to recoup a termination fee from him, this time wanting over three times the original amount at ~$5.5 million.
“According to Haknyeon, after he refused to sign the termination agreement, ONE HUNDRED filed a lawsuit against him on June 24, originally demanding roughly 2 billion Korean won (approximately $1.4 million) — a combination of returned signing bonuses and a separate penalty. Weeks later, he says, the ONE HUNDRED team filed an amended lawsuit seeking nearly 8 billion won in compensation (about $5.5 million), with no further explanation.“
Understandably, he expressed the belief that the Korean reporting against him that came out before Shukan Bunshun even published their story was an attack coordinated by the company, which they then deny to Benjamin.
“‘It’s too obvious because I only told the company,’ he says, asking how the TenAsia reporter would know details he shared only with his direct management before Shukan Bunshun published its photos. However, ONE HUNDRED denies providing information to any particular outlet, stating, ‘Since the incident involving Mr. Ju Haknyeon was reported, we have only responded to inquiries from all media outlets based on factual circumstances.’“
Haknyeon concluded by saying that he just wanted to let people know that ONE HUNDRED was shady as hell, basically.
“‘I want people to know that the company doesn’t protect their artists and isn’t acting like a proper company,’ he says. ‘If I lose this case over something I didn’t do … the companies will certainly abuse this kind of situation again.’“
Well, we know what happened soon after by now, right?
All of that was said before it was revealed that ONE HUNDRED was in dire financial straights and basically started imploding at the start of 2026 amid claims of fraud committed by CEO Cha Ga Won.
Looking back, I think even the most ardent skeptics of his claims at the time surely have to reconsider their position now. Everything Haknyeon claimed tracks almost completely with the knowledge that his company desperately needs money and was thus likely champing at the bit to recoup anything they could for any reason they could scrounge up.
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Remarkably though, further news down the road only seemed to vindicate Haknyeon further.
Early last month, the reporter who claimed he engaged in prostitution was indicted on charges of defamation, “[T]he Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Reporter A without detention last month on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.“
The reporter in question published an article in June of 2025 stating that Haknyeon engaged in prostitution with Kirara as a matter of fact, and Haknyeon responded by filing a complaint to authorities that same month. Police investigated the case and it went to prosecution in March of this year.
What authorities found was basically that the whole start of this mess was based on dubious reporting.
“During the investigation, Reporter A reportedly stated that he did not know the prostitution allegations were false. However, after comprehensively reviewing statements from representatives of ONE HUNDRED, materials from Ju Haknyeon’s side, and recorded conversations among related parties, the prosecution judged that defamation by dissemination of false facts was established.
Notably, while Reporter A cited ‘multiple entertainment industry insiders’ as a basis for the prostitution allegations in the article, he failed to present objective evidence or physical proof beyond rumors during the police investigation. Furthermore, the article included claims that ‘Ju Haknyeon admitted to prostitution after confirming specific evidence presented by his agency,’ but investigations of ONE HUNDRED’’ representatives found this to be untrue.“
The reported admission by Haknyeon was widely used to condemn him at the time, and it was seemingly just made up by the reporter. Incredible. Just remarkably inexcusable.
And so in light of this … there was basically nothing to the whole ordeal. A few pictures of two adults on a sidewalk.
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Now the latest breaking news revolves around the lawsuit ONE HUNDRED filed against Haknyeon that he talked to Billboard about, and unsurprisingly the court ruled that it had no grounds, saying “the plaintiff’s claims against the defendant are without merit” and ruling in favor of Haknyeon.
The actual question here is whether his reputation was damaged to the extent that he could no longer do entertainment activities, and it was ruled that wasn’t the case, “Meeting [Kirara] falls within the realm of personal life. While it may have been inappropriate conduct for an idol group member, it cannot be considered a serious act damaging dignity. … Regarding allegations of prostitution, police have decided not to prosecute. This does not constitute sufficient grounds for terminating the exclusive contract.“
Not surprising. The only hope ONE HUNDRED had was some kind of massive reversal due to unforeseen evidence they didn’t reveal in the initial public relations push, and they clearly had nothing more than what was made public. They will be appealing because they’re desperate, but that seems impossible for them to win.
Thus, this whole thing is just Haknyeon getting screwed over particularly hard due to bad timing and bad luck while being under a terrible company that increasingly looks to have been built on fraud. Just feel bad for him, mostly.
