Ko Young-wook weighs in on Chun Myung-hoon songwriting allegations: 'I never once saw him compose'

Ko Young-wook, a former member of the group Rula, has lashed out at Chun Myung-hoon, a former NRG member who was recently reported to have been sued over allegations that he passed off another composer's work as his own.

On Tuesday, Ko wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, calling Chun a "thug" before adding that the situation was "nothing compared to someone else I worked with."

"Even after spending a long time with that person, I never once saw them compose anything directly," Ko wrote. "So what exactly are all those songs credited as their own compositions? I don't know the details of whatever dealings they had with the composers at the time, but why aren't the actual composers reclaiming their rights?"

Ko offered no explanation of who "that person" was, signing off only with "there are no secrets." No evidence was presented to support his claims.

Ko's post appeared on the same day reports emerged that Chun had been sued over the alleged plagiarism. According to The Fact, composer Lee Jin-wook — who wrote the trot music song "Kung Jjak Insaeng" — filed a complaint in July against Chun and a trot producer on charges of obstruction of business and fraud.

Lee said that Chun, while preparing to appear on TV Chosun's "Mr. Trot" in 2019, obtained a demo of his song "Jjigeosseo" from him and then presented it as his own original composition on the TV Chosun show "Yeonaeui Mat," on which he was appearing at the time.

Police closed the case against Chun without referral to prosecutors on Sept. 21, citing a lack of evidence to substantiate Lee's composing activity, the fact that Chun received his appearance fees from the broadcaster rather than from Lee, and the expiration of the statute of limitations. Chun told The Fact: "I went through the full police investigation and everything was resolved without any problem. I have nothing more to say."

Ko debuted in 1994 as a member of Rula. In 2013, the Supreme Court handed down a final sentence of two years and six months in prison on charges of rape and sexual assault against minors, along with orders to have his personal information disclosed for five years and to wear an electronic monitoring anklet for three years.