Prosecutors raid YouTuber GooJeYeok’s home in blackmail investigation

Social Affairs

Published: 19 Jul. 2024, 13:23 Updated: 19 Jul. 2024, 14:53

Prosecutors raid YouTuber GooJeYeok’s home in blackmail investigation

Left: YouTuber GooJeYeok whose real name is Lee Jun-hee. Right: YouTuber Tzuyang [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Prosecutors on Thursday raided the residence of YouTuber GooJeYeok as part of an investigation into allegations of coercion and blackmail against another popular YouTuber, Tzuyang.

The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office conducted a search and seizure at GooJeYeok's residence in Gyeonggi, three days after the case was transferred from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

GooJeYeok, whose real name is Lee Jun-hee, is suspected of extorting 55 million won ($39,650) from Tzuyang, whose real name is Park Jung-won, by threatening to reveal details about her past relationship with her former boyfriend.

Lee denied the accusations online on Thursday, claiming that he “certainly did not threaten nor coerce Park and has not received a single penny that he would be ashamed of."

Investigators from the prosecution also raided the residence of another YouTuber, Jeon Gukjin. According to the prosecution service, Park claimed that Jeon Gukjin also threatened her. It is also reported that an official complaint filed by Park specified Jeon Gukjin as an offender. On Monday, Jeon admitted that he received 3 million won from Lee.

The search and seizure warrant indicated that the “suspects conspired to extort valuables by threatening to expose private life unless the victim pays money.” The court found substantial grounds to believe that Lee and Jeon had engaged in activities consistent with these charges.

Three YouTubers, including Lee and Jeon, have been accused of demanding money from Park in exchange for their silence about her "controversial" past.

The incident came to light after Park publicly admitted to her ex-boyfriend’s abuse and financial extortion in a livestream video on July 11. This admission was in response to an exposé by another YouTube channel, HoverLab Inc., which uploaded voice recordings of Jeon and Lee discussing their plan to obtain money from her.

On Friday, the Korean Bar Association decided to directly investigate an accusation that an attorney representing Park’s ex-boyfriend leaked details of her past to Lee.

The association said a third-party report requesting a probe into the attorney who defended Park’s former boyfriend was registered on Thursday.

In a YouTube video posted on Thursday, Park said that the previous day she had discovered that a lawyer surnamed Choi, who represented the head of her previous agency, had shared details of her private life, secrets and false information.

Park said she had been physically and verbally abused for four years by the head of her then-agency who was also her boyfriend at the time.

In the video, Park’s lawyer Kim Tae-yeon said it is unacceptable that lawyer Choi abandoned his ethical obligation and exploited the information obtained from his client. Kim said an anonymous source provided them with voice recordings between GooJeYeok and lawyer Choi — who was in a position to know every detail of Park’s personal life and taxation records as Choi represented the head of Park’s former agency.

Update, July 19: Information added about the Korean Bar Association's investigation.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]