Olympian's ex-fiancé arrested for stalking after allegedly lying about sex, family ties

Social Affairs

Published: 26 Oct. 2023, 18:02 Updated: 01 Nov. 2023, 00:25

Olympian's ex-fiancé arrested for stalking after allegedly lying about sex, family ties

Nam Hyun-hee [JOONGANG PHOTO]

The ex-fiancé of fencing gold medalist Nam Hyun-hee was arrested for stalking on Thursday after the truth emerged that the Olympian's husband-to-be was actually a woman.

The fiancé, 27-year-old Jeon Cheong-jo, also claimed to be an illegitimate scion of the Paradise hotel and casino conglomerate and had served over two years in prison for fraud.

According to the police, Jeon caused a disturbance when she repeatedly banged on the door and kept ringing the bell at the apartment entrance of Nam’s mother in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, at 1:10 a.m.

The Olympian’s family called the police when Jeon attempted to break in.

Nam reportedly left the Signiel Residence in Lotte Tower in Jamsil, Seoul, in which she had been living with Jeon on Wednesday after ending the relationship as allegations regarding the fiancé’s sex and her criminal record surfaced over the last couple of days.

The lifestyle magazine that first carried news of the couple's upcoming nuptials reported that Nam decided to end the relationship after several fraud victims came to their residence early Wednesday.

She learned from the victims that Jeon was using her name to swindle investors, with the victims telling her they gave Jeon money because they trusted the Olympian.

Nam also claimed that Jeon gaslighted her by making her believe she was pregnant using tampered pregnancy tests.

However, Nam told the magazine that she believed Jeon was a transgender man who had undergone a sex change operation.

She said Jeon had two ID cards, one registered as a man and another as a woman.

Olympian Nam Hyun-hee at an autograph signing ceremony at Hyundai Department Store in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, in August. The person wearing black has been speculated to be Nam's ex-fiance Jeon Cheong-jo, who claimed to be a family of the hotel and casino group, Paradise. [NAM HYUN-HEE INSTAGRAM]

The police had confirmed that Jeon was indeed a woman with a record of 10 criminal convictions or charges.

Jeon was released from police custody at 6:30 a.m. after the initial investigation ended.

The police said they did not arrest Jeon as she was not a flight risk.

Instead, they restricted Jeon from approaching within 100 meters of Nam and banned all communication, including calls and text messages.

The authorities also gave an emergency smartwatch to Nam to immediately alert the police if Jeon attempted to assault her.

The fiancé reportedly told the authorities that she hadn't been able to sleep or eat in the last three days since the allegations emerged.

The hotel and casino group Paradise on Thursday said they will take legal actions against Jeon for spreading lies.

The relationship between Nam and Jeon became public after an interview with a lifestyle magazine was published on Monday.

In the article, Nam said she was marrying Jeon, who was introduced as a third-generation scion of a Korean conglomerate and once a professional horse rider, despite their 15-year age difference.

The Olympian ended her prior marriage of 12 years to another Olympian, Gong Hyo-suk, in August.

Nam Hyun-hee's fencing school in September. The person in black attire on the left is believed to be Jeon Cheong-jo. [INSTAGRAM SCREEN CAPTURE]

In the article, Nam said that the two first met at her fencing school when Jeon, accompanied by bodyguards, signed up for class.

Jeon introduced herself as the illegitimate son of the Paradise Group Chairman Philip Chun, claiming that she rode horses professionally and had won several international tournaments.

Jeon also claimed that she left Korea due to an injury to attend NYU, majoring in horse riding.

After the article was published, claims regarding Jeon’s past surfaced, including allegations that Jeon was actually a woman and that she was raised in Ganghwa, Incheon.

It also turned out that she attended the Korea Horse Racing and Livestock High School, an advanced vocational school in Namwon, South Jeolla. She reportedly quit school after the first year.

According to a court ruling, Jeon was sentenced to 15 months in 2020 and six months in 2021 on two counts of fraud.

In each case, Jeon approached the victims as a love interest, once as a woman and once as a man, and borrowed money without any intention of paying back.

In one of the cases, she used the same tactic by claiming to be the out-of-wedlock son of the Paradise Group.

She also allegedly swindled large sums of money out of dozens of victims under the pretense of marrying them.

In one of the cases, she approached the victim as a man and swindled them out of more than 70 million ($51,541) under the false promise that when she returned to her family’s business, she would hire the victim as an assistant.

The investigation found no family relationship between Jeon and the hotel and casino conglomerate.

In 2020, Jeon lent more than 30 million won and spent 10 million won with a credit card belonging to the victim’s father.

According to the verdict, she asked the victim to give her the credit card so she could buy furniture for their home since they would be getting married.

A birthday greeting board addressed to Nam Hyun-hee sent by a person with the nickname ″jojo,″ which is the same Instagram ID that Jeon Cheong-jo use.

Early on, Nam defended onsJeon social media, claiming that she thanked everyone who congratulated her as well as those who expressed their concerns.

She added that she truly wanted to find true happiness and that she wanted to live happily with her daughter while adding that there seemed to be people with ill intentions.

Jeon also wrote on Instagram that she would take legal action against people who make malicious claims.

In an interview with local media, Jeon claimed that in time, the truth would become known.

Amid the continuing allegations, Paradise Group on Thursday publicly said the recent allegations and rumors surrounding the group and Chun had “significantly harmed the brand reputation.”

The group also confirmed that Jeon's claim to be a wedlock child of the group’s owner's family was untrue.

BY IM SOUNG-BIN, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]