Cornell and Burning Sun: What's behind the comparisons?

The Korea Times - Oct 1, 2026

SEATTLE — The sexual assault allegations involving seven current and former Cornell University students are drawing comparisons to Korea’s Burning Sun scandal, with parallels focusing on private group chats, male group dynamics and questions of institutional accountability. The Cornell case centers on allegations that a female student was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024. A civil lawsuit filed last month names seven current and former students, including Winston Lee, whose ties to Korea have drawn particular attention in Korean and Korean American online communities. Burning Sun erupted in 2019 as one of Korea’s most notorious scandals in recent years, growing from allegations surrounding a Seoul nightclub into a sprawling case involving prostitution, sexual violence, illegally filmed and shared sexual videos, gambling and allegations of police corruption. Min Joo Lee, an assistant professor of Asian studies at Occidental College whose research includes gender and sexuality in South Korea, told The Korea Times that there

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