Rental car operator convicted of blackmailing K-pop idols
Xportsnews
A rental car operator has been convicted of blackmailing a female K-pop group member and a male idol after recording a private moment between the two on a dashboard camera.
On Oct. 18, the Incheon District Court’s 14th Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Gong Woo-jin, sentenced the defendant, identified as C, to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, along with 120 hours of community service for extortion.
According to court documents, the case began last year when C rented a minivan to a member of a K-pop girl group. After checking the dashcam footage, C found a video showing her engaging in intimate physical contact with a male idol in the back seat.
C then sent threatening messages through the Chinese messenger app WeChat, saying, “What were you doing in the back seat? Isn’t that too much?” He also mentioned her group's name and demanded money equivalent to about half the car’s 47 million won (about $34,000) purchase price.
Frightened, she transferred money, but C continued his threats. The total amount extorted was around 9.79 million won ($7,100).
The court noted that C committed the offense while already serving a suspended sentence and said, “This is a clear case of extortion.” However, it added that the sentence took into account the fact that “the defendant returned most of the money.”
This article from Xportsnews is adapted by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.