Club Burning Sun’s CEO Lee Moon Ho shared his side of the story in a 20-minute phone interview with The Kyunghyang Shinmun.

He first spoke up on January 29 in an official statement with co-CEO Lee Sung Hyun that addressed a video suggesting a woman was being taken away to be sexual assaulted at Burning Sun. On February 4, he took to his Instagram and announced his club’s shut down.

Currently, CEO Lee Moon Ho continues to be investigated by the Narcotics Unit, Cybercrime Investigation Unit, and the Provincial Special Detective Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. After having four witness interviews with him, the police changed his status to that of a suspect in the fifth investigation when he tested positive in a drug test.

Regarding rumors that he had been investigated by the police in the past for injecting illegal drugs, he stated that they were false. The CEO said, “It was the first time in the 30 years of my life that I was questioned by the police for illegal drugs. There are various types of drugs. They say there are about six to eight different types of drugs that are distributed in Korea, and I was only tested positive for one of them. The results even said I had taken the drug in the last two months. My hair is about 15 centimeters long, and with this length, you can detect drugs that were taken one or two years ago. But there weren’t any drug-related substances [at the ends of my hair]. My testing positive also has room for debate.”

He explained his connection with Club Arena, saying, “Arena was created because of me. I was the general director, and President Kang supported me. I set up the general direction of Arena. At the time, I was also a sales representative at Arena and met Seungri there. I drew the plans for [Burning Sun] in order to become independent from Arena. Seungri is my friend, so I made the general plans for Burning Sun and asked him to join me. I own 10 percent of Burning Sun, and Seungri owns 20 percent. 50 percent (42 percent according to The Kyunghyang Shinmun) is owned by Cheonwon Industry.”

He continued, “Aren’t all of these suspicions related to Seungri about things that happened at Arena, not Burning Sun? I’m not the CEO of Arena. And if Seungri’s KakaoTalk messages from three years ago are a crime, aren’t all Korean men criminals? They were just joking, and it’s not like actual prostitution took place, [so do they deserve so much criticism?] And how would I be aware of the things that happened in 2015? I wasn’t even in the chatroom with Seungri that’s being discussed recently.”

He also defended himself against the rumors about women being drugged with gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and raped in Burning Sun. He said, “[If there are such victims], why are they not reporting to the police and only telling the press? If they file a lawsuit in the current situation, the perpetrator will be locked up, they’ll be compensated, and all legal punishments will be made, so why aren’t they suing?”

He continued saying, “Is there anyone saying they were investigated by the police as victims of rape? On the contrary, I caught the person who started the rumors that women were being raped with GHB [in Burning Sun] and turned them in to the police’s Cybercrime Investigation Unit. The lieutenant even thanked me. I’m actively cooperating with the police. These unconfirmed reports are too much. I wasn’t there when the Burning Sun assault happened, the results of my drug tests are questionable, and besides that, I have nothing else to be indicted for. And honestly, do you think drugs only circulate in Burning Sun?”