The source of the KakaoTalk messages was revealed to be a lawyer, Bang Jung-hyun, on March 11, when he was interviewed on SBS Eight O'Clock News.
He had obtained the messages from a whistleblower or "anonymous source", possibly a technician at a phone repair shop, where singer and entertainer Jung Joon-young had dropped his phone off for repairs.
The whistleblower had sent an email to Bang, of thousands of chats taken from Jung's phone, which took place over eight months between 2015 and 2016.
When the Burning Sun scandal started, the phone messages were forwarded to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and to SBS FunE; and the secretly filmed sex tapes and other chat messages on Jung's phone became public.
During the SBS interview, the integrity of the chat room file was discussed, and was said to have a tamper-proof device, technically a hash-code verification, showing that the file had not been manipulated; and could stand as circumstantial evidence to seek more evidence.
Bang, an economics graduate of Seoul National University, and a practicing lawyer, said of the chats, "Their conversations showed that there were not only sex crimes by celebrities, but also a cozy relationship between them and top police officers," and "It is someone higher up than [the Gangnam Police Precinct chief]."

Also, on Monday, March 11, due to possible police involvement, the Commission, a watchdog agency, turned the records over to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea, asking them to investigate the scandal instead of the police.
Within a week, the case was transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office who said they would assign a team to direct the SMPA's investigation.
Also, due to the new allegations of possible police misconduct, on March 14, Commissioner Min Gap-ryong of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) reported to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security at the National Assembly, that "A total of 126 agents will be assigned to investigate the nightclub Burning Sun, the assault at Club Arena, drug use, ties with the police, and allegations of brokering prostitution, filming and distributing illegal videos, among other things".
President Moon ordered an investigation of the scandal on March 18, to include two past sex scandal cases; the first one involved a former vice justice minister, Kim Hak-ui, who was cleared of a scandal in 2013, but had new allegations of raping women and appearing in sex videos with them, and the second one was the 2009 suicide of rookie actress Jang Ja-yeon, whose purported suicide note included a list of men who she was forced to have sex with, by her entertainment agency.
The handling of those cases had been criticized for nonimpartiality due to the involvement of high-profile figures.
He said, "The current leadership of the prosecution and police should stake the fate of their organizations with responsibility on uncovering the truth and becoming a law enforcement agency that can reveal its own shameful acts so as to regain trust," and "I am stressing that if we cannot fix it, we cannot call this society a just one."

Ha Hyun-ock, a deputy financial news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo likened the burgeoning events to the mafia, with allegations of "drug dealing, prostitution, violence, tax evasion and collusion with police".
He referred to the assessment Bang brought up on the SBS news program, of its being the beginning of a Korean mafia, with K-pop's popularity creating celebrities of new money and status, who hobnob with business and government connections.

Seungri's and Jung's inter-locking scandals were combined in public televised view when both were called into the SMPA station on March 14, with more than 100 journalists gathered for Jung's 10 a.m. appearance.
It consisted of his arrival, and apology, before entering the station for questioning and a drug test; followed similarly by Seungri, some three hours later.
Police also questioned Seungri's business partner and Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In-seok.
Seungri exited first, at around 6:15 a.m. on March
The source of the KakaoTalk messages was revealed to be a lawyer, Bang Jung-hyun, on March 11, when he was interviewed on SBS Eight O'Clock News. He had obtained the messages from a whistleblower or "anonymous source", possibly a technician at a phone repair shop, where singer and entertainer Jung Joon-young had dropped his phone off for repairs. The whistleblower had sent an email to Bang, of thousands of chats taken from Jung's phone, which took place over eight months between 2015 and 2016. When the Burning Sun scandal started, the phone messages were forwarded to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and to SBS FunE; and the secretly filmed sex tapes and other chat messages on Jung's phone became public. During the SBS interview, the integrity of the chat room file was discussed, and was said to have a tamper-proof device, technically a hash-code verification, showing that the file had not been manipulated; and could stand as circumstantial evidence to seek more evidence. Bang, an economics graduate of Seoul National University, and a practicing lawyer, said of the chats, "Their conversations showed that there were not only sex crimes by celebrities, but also a cozy relationship between them and top police officers," and "It is someone higher up than [the Gangnam Police Precinct chief]."
Also, on Monday, March 11, due to possible police involvement, the Commission, a watchdog agency, turned the records over to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea, asking them to investigate the scandal instead of the police. Within a week, the case was transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office who said they would assign a team to direct the SMPA's investigation. Also, due to the new allegations of possible police misconduct, on March 14, Commissioner Min Gap-ryong of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) reported to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security at the National Assembly, that "A total of 126 agents will be assigned to investigate the nightclub Burning Sun, the assault at Club Arena, drug use, ties with the police, and allegations of brokering prostitution, filming and distributing illegal videos, among other things". President Moon ordered an investigation of the scandal on March 18, to include two past sex scandal cases; the first one involved a former vice justice minister, Kim Hak-ui, who was cleared of a scandal in 2013, but had new allegations of raping women and appearing in sex videos with them, and the second one was the 2009 suicide of rookie actress Jang Ja-yeon, whose purported suicide note included a list of men who she was forced to have sex with, by her entertainment agency. The handling of those cases had been criticized for nonimpartiality due to the involvement of high-profile figures. He said, "The current leadership of the prosecution and police should stake the fate of their organizations with responsibility on uncovering the truth and becoming a law enforcement agency that can reveal its own shameful acts so as to regain trust," and "I am stressing that if we cannot fix it, we cannot call this society a just one."
Ha Hyun-ock, a deputy financial news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo likened the burgeoning events to the mafia, with allegations of "drug dealing, prostitution, violence, tax evasion and collusion with police". He referred to the assessment Bang brought up on the SBS news program, of its being the beginning of a Korean mafia, with K-pop's popularity creating celebrities of new money and status, who hobnob with business and government connections.
Seungri's and Jung's inter-locking scandals were combined in public televised view when both were called into the SMPA station on March 14, with more than 100 journalists gathered for Jung's 10 a.m. appearance. It consisted of his arrival, and apology, before entering the station for questioning and a drug test; followed similarly by Seungri, some three hours later. Police also questioned Seungri's business partner and Yuri Holdings CEO Yoo In-seok. Seungri exited first, at around 6:15 a.m. on March
Burning Sun scandal