Prosecutors seek arrest warrants against two YouTubers in Tzuyang extortion case

Social Affairs

Published: 24 Jul. 2024, 15:07

Prosecutors seek arrest warrants against two YouTubers in Tzuyang extortion case

Left: YouTuber GooJeYeok, whose real name is Lee Jun-hee; Right: YouTuber Tzuyang, whose real name is Park Jung-won [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Prosecutors are seeking an arrest warrant against YouTuber GooJeYeok, whose legal name is Lee Jun-hee, on charges of coercing and extorting valuables from another YouTuber, Tzuyang, whose legal name is Park Jung-won.

The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday asked the Suwon District Court to issue arrest warrants against two YouTubers, Lee and Jeon Gukjin, on charges of extortion. Jeon is suspected of conspiring in the extortion scheme against Park.

In addition to the extortion charge, Lee faces two additional charges — blackmail and coercion.

Both Jeon and Lee are considered to be so-called “cyber-wreckers” who profit from spreading rumors about well-known figures on the internet.

Lee allegedly extorted 55 million won ($39,764.9) from Park in February last year. Also, in a video posted by Jeon on July 15, Jeon admitted receiving 3 million won from Lee on Feb. 27 of last year.

“The prosecution requested the arrest warrant after conducting a search and seizure operation and questioning suspects following the transfer of the case from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on July 16,” a prosecution official said.

The Suwon District Court will convene hearings for Lee and Jeon at 10:30 a.m. on Friday to decide whether to issue their arrest warrants.

The case surfaced on July 10 after another YouTube channel, HoverLab Inc., revealed a voice recording of a phone call between Lee and Jeon. In the exposé, Lee told Jeon that he had signed a contract with Park, in which he agreed not to speak about her past in return for 55 million won.

Several hours after the HoverLab Inc.’s revelation, Park confessed in a livestream video that she had been “physically assaulted and threatened by her former boyfriend who said he would distribute illegally filmed video” of her if she did not behave in a certain way.

On July 15, she filed an official complaint against Lee and Jeon to the prosecution.

A criminal case against Park’s ex-boyfriend, who was charged with sexual abuse, physical assault and threats, was closed after the boyfriend died by suicide during the investigation.

As the controversy grew, Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on July 15 ordered fellow prosecutors to "proactively review means to confiscate criminal proceeds, seek heavy sentences from the courts and detain suspects" during investigations.

“Victims suffer damages from which they can't recover because of criminal behavior accompanied by false accusations, insults, reckless exposes and coercion in cyberspace where such behavior yields far-reaching consequences,” said Prosecutor General Lee, who asked officers to put their best effort in “protecting the victims.”

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, SON SUNG-BAE [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]