Reports of South Korean singer Jung Joon Young being spotted in France have surfaced again. On Sunday, a post on X (formerly Twitter) read, “Jung Joon Young is in Paris. I just saw him at Barbès; be cautious, he’s problematic,” along with a short video and photos.
The photos show Jung seemingly shopping, while the video features him with shoulder-length hair and a sharp gaze.
Earlier in July, similar reports emerged about Jung in France. At that time, a South Korean shared a post claiming, “Jung Joon Young, a convicted sex offender, was spotted in Lyon. He was hitting on women at a bar, asking for Instagram handles, and said he would open a Korean restaurant in Lyon.”
Jung, who was convicted of gang sexual assault and illegal filming, was released from Mokpo Correctional Facility on March 19 after serving a five-year prison sentence.
Previously, Jung, along with fellow group chat members Choi Jong Hoon, Mr. Heo, Mr. Kwon, and Mr. Kim, faced allegations of drugging and sexually assaulting women in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, in January 2016 and Daegu in March 2016. He was also charged with illegally sharing videos of women he had filmed, a violation of South Korea’s Sexual Violence Punishment Act, over several months starting in late 2015.
On November 29, 2019, Jung was sentenced to six years in prison in the first trial. He was also ordered to complete 80 hours of sexual violence treatment programs and faced a five-year employment restriction at institutions for children, adolescents, and disabled individuals. Both Jung and the prosecution appealed the ruling. In the appeal, the court reduced his prison sentence to five years while maintaining the same treatment program and employment restrictions. This resulted in a one-year reduction from the original sentence.
In September 2020, the Supreme Court’s Second Division dismissed the defendants’ and the prosecution’s appeals, upholding the appellate court’s decision. Jung served his five-year sentence and was released upon completion.
