Hwang Ui-jo's sister-in-law gets three-year sentence for sex tape leaking

Football player Hwang Ui-jo speaks with the press in this file photo dated Feb. 22, 2023, in Seoul. [NEWS1]

A court handed down a three-year sentence to the sister-in-law of football star Hwang Ui-jo on Thursday, on charges of leaking the player’s sex tapes and blackmailing.

The Seoul Central District Court acknowledged the defendant’s "severe" crime of blackmailing the footballer while knowing that the private videos would disseminate and go viral.

The court additionally ordered the defendant to undergo 40 hours of sexual abuse treatment and restricted her from being hired by institutions related to children and disabilities for up to three years.

“The court cannot see that the defendant is seriously reflecting on her crimes as she has denied them for a long time and disrupted the investigation by doing things like resetting her phone,” the court said.

The lighter-than-expected sentence was made considering her late confession and clear past criminal records, the statement said. Prosecutors sought a four-year sentence against the sister-in-law in a hearing last month.

Following the ruling, the attorney of the female victim, who was involved in the video, criticized the court’s light sentencing.

“The victim will live the rest of her life worrying whether she will be known for being involved in the video,” the attorney was quoted as saying to local reporters.

According to the court, Hwang, a striker for the Turkish football team Alanyaspor, submitted a letter to waive the penalty against his sister-in-law, while the female victim submitted a petition to heavily punish her.

The sister-in-law has been detained and indicted on charges of blackmailing and leaking Hwang’s sex tapes in December last year.

She was accused of posting photos and videos of Hwang with multiple women on Instagram in June last year while claiming to be his ex-girlfriend. She is also accused of threatening Hwang by sending messages like “it will be fun if the video gets leaked.”

After months of denial against such allegations, the sister-in-law confessed to the court through a handwritten apology on Feb. 20 that she leaked Hwang’s personal videos to seek revenge, citing that she wanted to “teach him a lesson.”

She claimed that she found a video of Hwang and an unknown woman having a sexual encounter on the player’s phone, which she has access to because she helps Hwang manage his personal life.

“The only intention was to teach Hwang a lesson,” she said. “I edited the video so the woman’s face would not be exposed. I never thought of ruining Hwang’s career or harming the woman.”

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency transferred the 32-year-old footballer, accused of illegally filming his sexual encounters and inflicting secondary harm, to the prosecution without detention early last month.

According to the police, Hwang admitted that he had filmed the video, but claimed it was done with his partner’s consent.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]