Multiple K-pop management agencies are facing fast-spreading rumors about their alleged links to powerful political figures, including the recently arrested presidential confidante Choi Soon-sil. In response, many are denying these rumors.

The influence-peddling scandal stemmed from a four-decade friendship between President Park Geun-hye and Choi. It is spilling over to the Korean entertainment industry.

One example involves a celebrity football club, named Hoeori, which has been accused as serving as a venue for backdoor deals between entertainment companies, and Choi’s family members and associates.

Jin & Won Music Works, which manages South Korean pop rock singer Lee Seung-cheol, strongly denied dealings with Hoeori.

“We swear, we’ve never met or known Choi Soon-sil and (her elder sister) Choi Soon-deuk,” Jin & Won Music Works said in a press release Friday.

“It’s been more than 15 years since (Lee Seung-chul) stopped playing football and left Hoeori. It’s an unfair stretch and insult to dig into the distant past to stigmatize him,” the statement continued, adding that the company is “as upset and angry about the ongoing (Choi Soon-sil) scandal as anybody (else) living in this nation.”

The agency’s statement came a day after Rep. An Min-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party insisted on a radio show that Choi and her 37-year-old niece Jang Si-ho have influence over many entertainment businesses here.

During the show, An said that Choi Soon-deuk -- Choi Soon-sil’s elder sister and Jang’s mother -- began building connections with the celebrity football club by treating its members to meals.

“A famous singer, whose name is virtually known to everyone (in this country), somehow popped up at public events of major international organizations as a representative of Korean culture,” An said.

The lawmaker alleged that the unusual appearances of a K-pop singer at the international events of nongovernmental organizations were brought about by Choi Soon-sil’s political influence.

After the radio show aired, popular social media channels and online opinion sharing platforms became crowded with postings about Lee and his performance at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in Russia and a conference of the United Nations Department of Public Information in May this year.

However, Lee’s agency said the singer performed in Russia after receiving an offer from the Sochi organizers, and at the UN DPI’s event after being asked to join by a choir of North Korean defectors.

In addition to Jin & Won Music Works, Rep. An talked about “a giant agency and its artist” which received special favors.

YG Entertainment, which manages world-class K-pop artists such as Psy and Big Bang, refuted such notions with an official statement, saying it has never been supported by Choi Soon-sil.

However, rumors have continued to spread, claiming the second-largest entertainment agency here hired Jang to seek favors from Choi, and that Jang and Psy are in an intimate relationship.

In an official statement, YG Entertainment denied this, saying, “Jang Si-ho has never been an employee of YG, and Psy has never met or known her.”

The agency also claimed that Psy has never been involved with the Hoeori celebrity football team.

YG Entertainment has vowed to take legal actions against anyone who spreads groundless rumors about the matter. (Yonhap)