Extortion of YouTuber Tzuyang highlights 'cyber wrecker' issues in S. Korea

This screengrab shows YouTuber Tzuyang, in a video she posted Thursday detailing her assault and exploitation. (Yonhap)

Following YouTuber Tzuyang's recent revelation about her being assaulted and financially exploited by her former boyfriend for four years, a group of YouTubers were suspected to have blackmailed her for money in exchange for keeping quiet about her past.

The revelation shocked and angered viewers over what many are calling the moral bankruptcy of the so-called "cyber wreckers," who make a profit by posting rumors or negative news about celebrities often in a maliciously edited form. The term derives from tow trucks, or wreckers, likening the actions of the posters to privately-run tow trucks that flash their lights and use sirens despite not being state-approved emergency vehicles.

A recently revealed recording suggested that YouTuber Gu Je Yeok, whose real name is Lee Jun-hee, had blackmailed Tzuyang, real name Park Jung-won, with fellow YouTubers Caracula, and Jeon Gukjin potentially involved. It captured Lee discussing with the other two about making money off Park's painful past.

In the recording, Lee told the others that Park had already paid him 11 million won ($8,000) to keep quiet about her past, and the others advised him about further attacking one of the most profitable domestic YouTube channels. They suggested that it would be better to have Park "take care of them" rather than to release a video about her past, saying she makes enough money to pay them off.

The Tzuyang channel has just over 10 million subscribers and is one of around a dozen South Korean channels that have surpassed the 10-million mark.

Lee and Caracula have denied the accusations, with Jeon remaining silent as of Friday. Lee vowed to reveal what he claimed was the truth about the situation, without mentioning the 11 million won, while Caracula said he would refute the accusations in future videos.

According to what Park had revealed in a live broadcast early Thursday, her boyfriend had forced her to work at a bar and extorted most of the profit from her channel until recently -- which accumulated to at least 4 billion won over the four years. He threatened to release illegally filmed videos of her that he took without her consent, the content of which she did not specify.

Park was only recently released from her ex-boyfriend's management company after her legal representatives filed a series of criminal charges against him, including numerous violations of the sex crime law, multiple occasions of violence, intimidation, assault, coercion and blackmail. He committed suicide during the investigation, and the case was closed.

Cyber wreckers

Lee claimed that he did his best to honor Tzuyang's desire for her past to be forgotten, but he and other cyber wreckers have long been controversial for uploading unverified claims about well-known people. Caracula recently stirred controversy for releasing information related to the ex-girlfriend of basketball star Heo Ung, who he alleged had worked at a high-profile bar despite her claim of being a regular college student.

Most cyber wreckers claim that they are working in the interest of the public's right to know the truth, such as Caracula doxxing the man behind the 2022 attempted rape and murder case in Busan. A number of these channels revealed information about the perpetrators behind the 2004 Miryang gang rape incident who escaped criminal punishment by being minors at the time.

But the self-proclaimed vigilantism by these YouTubers has been prone to criticism and even negative consequences. One of the doxxing videos related to the Miryang incident had wrongly accused a local woman of being the girlfriend of the sex crime convict, leading to a barrage of online attacks against her.

There are also cyber wreckers who openly and maliciously edit videos about celebrities as clickbait to feed their channel.

A former YouTuber surnamed Park was indicted in May over defamation of several K-pop stars, with the Incheon District Court freezing her assets with plans to seize them if the court decides they have been obtained with profit from her illegal activities. She had been spreading baseless rumors about K-pop stars, such as dating rumors and plastic surgery claims, accumulating 160 million views before her channel was shuttered in June last year.

Filing for charges against anonymous YouTubers like Park has presented difficulties for local entertainment agencies since the law states that one has to file information about the litigant. The video-sharing channel's operator, Google, is based in California, and acquiring channel hosts' information requires an order from a California court.

But K-pop star Jang Won-young's agency Starship Entertainment was granted the right to request the information from Google and YouTube in a ruling by the US District Court Northern District of California last year. Other agencies have followed suit, with NewJeans' agency Ador getting a California court order to request information about a cyber wrecker who has been posting maliciously about the members of the girl group.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)