Korean soccer star Hwang Ui Jo’s sex scandal, which has been brewing since 2023, has taken yet another sharp turn.
Hwang Ui Jo | Sports Donga
In June 2023, Hwang was embroiled in a controversy after his intimate pictures and videos were leaked online by an anonymous netizen. The soccer player was initially accused of leaking them himself, but he claimed that it was done by a hacker who had been blackmailing him. The suspect was arrested in November, but soon after, the woman who was seen in the video with Hwang accused him of filming their sexual encounters without consent.
A few days later, the cyber police arrested the actual culprit who was responsible for the leak, Hwang’s sister-in-law. The woman, identified by her surname, Lee, initially denied the allegations vehemently. However, according to the latest reports, she has admitted to committing the crime in a letter of apology submitted to the court. In her statement, she confessed that it was an act of revenge after her husband and Hwang had a fallout over management issues. She also claimed that she never wanted to harm Hwang’s career or hurt his ex-lover and took precautions to keep her identity hidden.
We gave up everything in South Korea and looked after (Hwang) for five years as he stayed abroad. But my husband and Hwang had a disagreement over player management while (Hwang) was preparing to return to the English Premier League last year…I found in (Hwang’s) phone a sex video of him with a woman, and I wanted to use it to threaten Hwang and make him depend on us again. … I made sure that the woman’s face was not exposed by editing the video.
— Hwang’s sister-in-law, Lee
While investigating the case, police found that a month before the videos were leaked, Lee had sent threatening messages to Hwang saying, “It will be fun if (the videos) got out,” and “Just wait and see.”
Image used for illustrative purposes only | Adobe
Though his sister-in-law’s testimony renders Hwang innocent against the accusations of leaking the videos, he is still accused of filming those videos illegally in the first place. His ex-lover took legal steps against him in November 2023, claiming that she never agreed to be filmed and had asked him to delete the videos repeatedly. She also accused him of inflicting further damage by disclosing her details publicly, which could lead to her identification.
| Yonhap
Meanwhile, Hwang, who is currently signed to EPL club Nottingham Forest, recently joined Alanyaspor of the Turkish League on February 6 on loan. He is slated to play with the team until the end of this season.
