Son Heung-min files complaint against woman for blackmail over false pregnancy claim

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min / Reuters-Yonhap

Police have launched an investigation after Son Heung-min, captain of the Korean national football team and star forward for Tottenham Hotspur, filed a complaint accusing a woman in her 20s of attempting to blackmail him by falsely claiming she was pregnant with his child.

The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul said Wednesday it has booked the woman, identified only by her surname A, along with an alleged accomplice in his 40s, on charges of blackmail.

Authorities confirmed they received Son’s complaint on May 7 and have begun an investigation.

According to Son’s legal team, the woman falsely claimed in June last year that she was pregnant and demanded large sums of money in return for not going public. Investigators believe the suspects continued to seek additional payments totaling tens of millions of won even recently.

Police said they are questioning those involved to determine the exact circumstances of the case.

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.