Top prosecutor orders strict response to alleged blackmailers of Tzuyang

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok ordered the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, handling the case, to respond strictly to the alleged blackmailers of Tzuyang and to "cyber wreckers" in general.

Lee Jun-hee, known by his YouTube channel name GooJeYeok, appears before the prosecutors' office as he heads to the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi, to attend an arrest warrant hearing on Friday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on Monday ordered a stern response to the “cyber wreckers” involved in the alleged extortion scheme against mukbang YouTube star Tzuyang.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Lee ordered the chief of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office responsible for the case to “strictly respond to the distribution of malicious content, threats and extortion crimes committed by cyber wreckers who promote hatred for profit and commercial purposes and cause extreme defamation," and to "confiscate their criminal proceeds."

Cyber wreckers are YouTubers who specialize in posting videos that target specific people, mostly celebrities but sometimes non-celebrities like infamous criminals, to attract viewers and ultimately make money.

The top prosecutor had also previously ordered a "thorough" investigation into the case as well as protection for the victim and the confiscation of profit made through illegal means on July 15.

On Friday, the Suwon District Court issued arrest warrants against Lee Jun-hee, known by his YouTube channel name GooJeYeok, and YouTuber Jeon Gukjin on charges of blackmail, threats and extortion against Tzuyang.

The two men are accused of pocketing 55 million won ($39,700) from Tzuyang, whose legal name is Park Jung-won, in February of last year in exchange for keeping her past related to her ex-boyfriend a secret.

The prosecution launched an investigation into the case following a complaint filed by Tzuyang on July 15 against three YouTubers and another "anonymous blackmailer."

The case came to light on July 10 after a YouTube channel, HoverLab, revealed a voice recording of a phone call between Lee and Jeon. In the exposé, Lee told Jeon that he had signed a contract with Park under which he agreed not to speak about her past of working at a hostess bar, something she was forced to do by her now-dead ex-boyfriend, in return for 55 million won.

Tzuyang, a 27-year-old YouTuber with more than 10 million subscribers, confessed in a livestream video the next day that she had been “physically assaulted and threatened by her former boyfriend, who was her agency's CEO, for four years.”

A criminal case against Park’s ex-boyfriend, who was charged with sexual abuse, physical assault and threats, was closed after the he died by suicide during the investigation.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]