Recently, a South Korean court sentenced a woman to prison for blackmailing and physically assaulting a celebrity.
Image used for illustrative purposes only | iStockPhotos
The defendant, a 36-year-old woman, dated the victim in his 30s very briefly, for only 10 days, in August 2022. When the victim requested to call off their romance, the woman refused to accept it and demanded that he pay her ₩5.00 million KRW (about $3,740 USD). She threatened to post malicious comments about him online if he refused to pay, trying to leverage his position as a public figure.
Upon learning that the victim had only ₩2.40 million KRW (about $1,800 USD) in his account at that moment, the woman demanded that the remaining money be paid in slaps and proceeded to slap him 10 times. She was also accused of entering the victim’s house by force.
In addition, she sent 800 threatening text messages to the victim after their break up. She also posted claims on social media that she had contracted herpes from him.
When the case was investigated, all of the claims made by the defendant were found to be false, but she continued to deny the charges. During the trial at the Euijeongbu District Court, the court found her guilty of extortion, assault, intrusion of residence, and defamation.
The defendant committed a grave crime in that she demanded money for no reason and assaulted him while posting falsehoods about the victim, for whom his social image is very important.
— Euijeongbu District Court
The woman has been sentenced to prison for 10 months by the court.
