Woman arrested for blackmailing Son Heung-min faces questions over paternity claim
Yang, a woman in her 20s who claimed to be pregnant with the child of Tottenham Hotspur and Korean football star Son Heung-min and attempted to extort money from him, enters Seoul Central District Court on Saturday for a warrant hearing. Yonhap
The woman who was recently arrested for blackmailing football star Son Heung-min by claiming to be pregnant with his child is now facing questions over the identity of the father.
On May 20, Korean media outlet Dispatch reported that the woman, identified as A, had been in relationships with two men during the same time period — one being national football team captain Son Heung-min and the other a businessman.
According to a recording obtained by Dispatch, A confessed to a man referred to as B that she had informed both men about the pregnancy. B questioned her, saying, “How can you tell both men the same thing when you don’t even know whose child it is?”
A told both men she was pregnant and requested 300 million won (approximately $220,000), a sum that Son reportedly paid. Although A and Son had no further contact after that, the incident resurfaced when B, a second suspect, entered the picture.
B contacted Dispatch and claimed he was engaged to A. He said he discovered a nondisclosure agreement on A’s phone and attempted to sell related information to the media and Son’s side. B allegedly demanded 20 million won in exchange for the materials. B later offered to hand over the materials to Son's side, urging them to file a fraud and blackmail complaint against A, and demanded 70 million won in return.
On May 17, Judge Yoon Won-mook of the Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for a woman in her 20s, identified as Yang, on charges of blackmail, and a man in his 40s, identified as Yong, on charges of attempted blackmail.
A is accused of receiving around 300 million won from Son after presenting ultrasound images and stating she was pregnant. In March, B reportedly contacted Son’s manager and demanded more money, threatening to go to the media.
Son’s representatives acknowledged that the player and A were once in a relationship but firmly denied claims that he pressured her to have an abortion or engaged in any form of coercion.
This article from Xportsnews is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.