Internet sex video blights career of Korean pop star

She was the country's top female pop star, a budding diva whose sexy moves scandalised older South Koreans and made her a huge star among the young. Then 'the video' hit the internet.

A brief cyberwar broke out. Fans of the singer, Baek Ji Young, tried to paralyse internet sites offering a video showing Baek having sex with a former producer. But the web's voracious nature could not be denied. The video clip multiplied and raced across the net, reportedly at a rate of 200,000 copies in a day. Baek, 24, at first hid on an island and denied she was the woman in the video. But then she held a tearful news conference to confess and apologise.

The star was the casualty of a clash of cultures. South Korea is one of the most 'wired' countries in the world, but it is also a traditional society in which sex is seen as a private matter and premarital sex is a scandal.

Baek is not the first casualty. Miss Korea 1988, Oh Hyun Kyung, 30, fled an acting career and South Korea last year after a video of her having sex with a boyfriend hit the internet. Since an estimated third of South Korea's 47 million people use the internet, one of the highest rates in the world, 'it was like branding her with a scarlet letter', one observer said. The internet and new forms of communication are 'changing Korean society very rapidly', said Henry Paik, a showbusiness columnist. 'But this still isn't America or Europe. Here, if you have premarital sex, you are treated like a criminal.'

There is a grudging suspicion in South Korea that this is all somehow the fault of the United States. Censors used to clip risqué parts out of American movies and videotapes. Now the internet and DVD have bypassed them. American rap has spawned Korean rap, complete with profanity. A local performer, Seo Tai Ji, has just released a music video with explicit sex and nudity.

'Times are changing too fast,' grumbled Oh Kwang Hwan, 55, an estate agent. 'I was shocked that the younger generation could even come up with an idea like making a sex video and putting it on the internet.'

Two male celebrities have also been caught in recent sex scandals. An actor, Song Young Chang, 42, was sentenced in November to 10 months in prison for having sex with a 16-year-old girl. Joo Byung Jin, who runs a TV production company, was charged last month with beating a student after forcing her to have sex.

These latest scandals show that the entertainment industry's sordid reputation is in some ways still deserved, said Paik. 'There used to be three ways to get into the business: bribery, sex or political influence,' he said. Although changes in the industry have reduced the power of producers and directors, he said, those are still familiar routes to success.

Baek's video offers a poignant example. The first half, apparently shot two years ago, shows her nervously practising imaginary media interviews under the direction of the producer. In the second half, they have sex. Baek insists she did not know the camera was rolling.

The ex-producer, Kim Si Won, has disputed her claims of ignorance. 'We watched it together afterwards and enjoyed it,' he said.

Others are also cynical about Baek's claims. Paik said it was not uncommon for managers or producers to insist that starlets make such videos, in case the woman tries to dump her old associates after she becomes successful. The speed of the internet makes such weapons more potent.

'Ten years ago these things ended with just a few rumours,' Paik said. 'Now the evidence goes out on the web.'

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