Two blackmailers of late actor Lee Sun-kyun receive harsher sentences on appeal

A former actress accused of blackmailing the late actor Lee Sun-kyun appears for a pretrial detention hearing at Incheon District Court in Michuhol District, in December 2023. Yonhap

Two individuals convicted of blackmailing the late actor Lee Sun-kyun have received harsher sentences on appeal, with the court acknowledging their roles in contributing to the circumstances that led to the actor’s death.

The Incheon District Court’s Criminal Appellate Division 3, presided over by Judge Choi Sung-bae, overturned the lower court’s rulings and handed down longer prison terms to both defendants on Wednesday.

A 31-year-old female nightclub manager was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, up from the original three years and six months, and was taken into custody in court. She had been released on bail prior to the appeal ruling.

A former actress, 30, also saw an increase in her prison sentence, from four years and two months to six years and six months, for the same charges.

In its ruling, the court said it could not deny that the nightclub manager’s actions were a contributing factor in Lee’s death.

“The victim’s family continues to suffer severe emotional distress, and the damage remains unaddressed,” the court said. As for the actress, the judge noted that her actions also appeared to play a role in the actor’s decision to take his own life.

In September 2023, the nightclub manager contacted Lee claiming that her phone had been hacked and that the hacker was threatening to release compromising information unless hush money was paid.

She extracted 300 million won ($215,000) from Lee through this fabricated scenario. Police later found that the so-called hacker was actually the actress, a neighbor of the manager. Once the actress became aware of Lee’s alleged drug use and his connection to the manager, she impersonated a hacker to extort money.

When the manager refused to share the proceeds, the actress directly contacted and threatened Lee in October 2023, successfully extorting an additional 50 million won.

The manager had also been sentenced to one year in prison in October 2024 for separate charges of using methamphetamine and marijuana on three occasions. The actress, who had appeared in minor film roles in 2012 and 2015, was previously convicted and served time for fraud.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.