A woman who extorted 300 million won ($223,000) from football star Son Heung-min by falsely claiming she was pregnant with his child was sentenced to four years in prison in a first-instance ruling.
The Seoul Central District Court's 20th Criminal Division (Judge Lim Jeong-bin) on Thursday sentenced Yang, a 28-year-old woman, to four years in prison and her accomplice Yong, a 40-year-old man, to two years on charges including blackmail.
At the final hearing held on May 27, prosecutors had requested five years for Yang and two years for Yong, stating that "this was a thoroughly planned crime with serious circumstances and poor conduct, likely causing considerable psychological distress to the victim."
The pair is accused of demanding money from Son, who plays for Los Angeles FC, in June last year by threatening to expose claims that Yang was pregnant with his child, using ultrasound images of a fetus.
Yang received 300 million won from Son's side and even signed a non-disclosure agreement with a penalty clause of 3 billion won. However, from March to May this year, she and her boyfriend Yong attempted to extort an additional 70 million won by threatening to expose the pregnancy and abortion claims to the media and Son's family.
According to the prosecution's investigation, Yang had initially planned to demand money from a different man by claiming pregnancy, but gave up when he did not respond. She then approached Son's side with the false pregnancy claim and extorted 300 million won, taking advantage of his fear of damage to his social reputation and athletic career.
After squandering the money on luxury goods and facing financial difficulties, Yang enlisted Yong, who had become her boyfriend, to attempt a second extortion from Son, the investigation found.
