Ilgwang group chairman accused of threatening actress

Lee Kyu-tae, left, and Clara Lee / Korea Times file

Prosecutors have cleared actress Clara Lee and her father of suspicion of threatening Ilgwang Group Chairman Lee Kyu-tae, 65, instead indicting without detention the businessman for alleged blackmail. The authorities have discovered that Lee had once allegedly threatened Clara and her manager by saying he is capable of “slitting throats.”

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Wednesday it found Lee, also CEO of Polaris Entertainment, had met Clara, 29, and her father at a coffee shop in Seoul in August 2014 and threatened them. Lee had sued them in October for threatening and blackmailing him by saying they would report him to police for making sexually harassing remarks if the actress’ contract with Polaris was not terminated.

Lee had also bragged about his past careers in the spy agency and the police, and told her he could “rummage through her smartphone activities whenever he wishes,” reports said.

Previous reports said Lee had allegedly asked Clara several times to stop her acting career and be his personal lobbyist, and he had sexually harassed her with text messages.

The two sides are also engaged in a civil lawsuit over Clara’s contract.