Sex Video Circulates on Net; Singer Seeks Legal Remedies

Pop singer Baek Ji-young said Wednesday that her videotaped sexual encounter now available on the Internet was recorded without her knowledge and that she would take legal action against the people responsible.

"My family and I am suffering so much, and I feel like I want to hide somewhere" the singer said. "I'm going to do everything I can to punish those who released the video on the Internet and prevent this from happening again."

Regarding her former manager, the man she is seen having sex with on the video, Miss Baek said, "I broke up with him, because he didn't treat me right. He took money from my family and never gave it back."

The sex video was first released on a Web site Nov. 19 as a pay download, drawing more than 200,000 people to the site. The copy protection scheme of the downloadable file was reportedly broken Sunday, and the video quickly circulated among Internet users.

The singer has asked the Seoul District Court to punish those responsible for first making the video available on the Internet.

Miss Baek is scheduled to hold a concert Dec. 9. She did not comment on whether the show would be cancelled, but said more generally that she wanted to continue singing for the people who love her music.

by Choe Jae-hee