The Dark Side of K-Pop: Taeil’s Sex Crimes Scandal and the Shocking Allegations That Led to His Expulsion from NCT

Until a week ago, Taeil He was considered one of the greenest flags among K-pop idols. However, one announcement was enough to reveal his true colors. The former member of NCT He is currently under police investigation for a sexual offense.

Who is Taeil?

Moon Tae-il, better known by his nickname Taeil, is a singer-songwriter. Discovered by SM Entertainment Shortly after enrolling in Hanyang University’s Music Department, Taeil decided to leave the prestigious university to pursue his dream of becoming a singer under the label.

After being introduced as a member of SMROOKIES in 2013 and participating in various pre-debut activities, Taeil made his official debut with NCT in 2016. SM Entertainment’s boy group NCT is well known for its unique concept of having multiple sub-units. Currently, NCT has six sub-units, namely: NCT 127, NCT Dream, National University of ConnecticutWAYV, NCT Dojaejung and NCT Wish. Taeil was lead vocalist in NCT 127 and NCT U.

He has also released a bunch of solo projects such as Ordinary day with SHINee’s Onew and Super Junior’s Kyuhyun, Purple with Sohlhee, Starlight (twenty five twenty one) Soundtrack), For you (The Merchant: Gaekju 2015 OST) and more.

Why did Taeil leave NCT?

On August 28, SM Entertainment announced Taeil’s departure from NCT due to allegations of sexual crimes. “We recently learned that Taeil has been charged in a criminal case involving a sexual crime. While evaluating the facts surrounding the matter, we recognized the severity of the situation and determined that Taeil can no longer continue his activities with the team (NCT). After discussing it with Taeil, we have decided to release him from the group,” the label stated. SM Entertainment further added that the singer is cooperating with the investigation, which is reportedly being conducted by the Seoul Bangbae Police.

Shortly after the announcement, rumors about the case and the victim began to spread online. While some claimed that the victim was born in 2006 and had been harassed by Taeil since she was a minor, others claimed that Taeil had sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl and left her permanently disabled. There were also rumors that Taeil had blackmailed the victim, sent death threats, hacked and hid a secret camera in her phone, and threatened to kill her mother, who was hospitalized at the time. He was also rumored to be part of an Nth Room with over 200 famous Korean men. For the unversed, the Nth Room case is a criminal case involving blackmail, cyber trafficking, and the spreading of sexually exploitative videos through Telegram.

However, the Bangbae Police Station in Seoul denied some rumors. A police officer revealed that Taeil was arrested after an adult woman filed a complaint in June 2024 for an alleged sexual crime.

Following the police statement, a source from SM Entertainment shared, “The agency and Taeil learned of the accusation in the middle of this month. Taeil was investigated by the police on August 28.” Other than the statements from the police and SM Entertainment, nothing else has been confirmed.

Taeil’s case reminds us once again that we shouldn’t put all our trust in celebrities. Fans don’t know what stars are like behind closed doors, especially K-pop idols, who are often assigned particular personalities by their labels.