Prosecutors indicted four YouTubers on Wednesday on charges of blackmailing and extorting “mukbang” star Tzuyang or abetting the crimes.
The Suwon District Prosecutors Office indicted Lee Jun-hee and Jeon Kuk-jin, known by their YouTube channel names, Gujeyeok and Jujakgambeolsa, respectively, with physical detention on charges including blackmail against Tzuyang.
Prosecutors also indicted Lee Se-wook, better known for his YouTube channel Caracula, with physical detention, and Choi Il-hwan, also known as Crocodile on YouTube, without detention on charges of abetting the crimes of the other YouTubers.
YouTubers Gujeyeok and Jujakgambeolsa are accused of extorting 55 million won (US$40,424) from Tzuyang by threatening to publicize allegations about her tax evasion and private life in February 2023.
They also reportedly forced Tzuyang, whose real name is Park Jung-won, to promote their acquaintances’ restaurant in exchange for keeping quiet, and threatened to upload a video claiming that she was harassing s
mall businesses with lawsuits.
YouTubers Caracula and Crocodile allegedly told Gujeyeok that extorting money from Tzuyang is “more profitable” than uploading a revealing video about her.
Prosecutors launched an investigation into the case following a complaint filed against Gujeyeok and Jujakgambeolsa last month. The two YouTubers were formally arrested on July 26 and Caracula was arrested earlier this month.
The YouTubers reportedly called themselves “South Korea’s online wrecker association” and strengthened their solidarity through regular meetings, while searching for targets for their crimes and sharing information about them in real-time through group chats, according to prosecutors.
In the case involving Tzuyang, it was found that Gujeyeok immediately shared the tipoff he received about the mukbang star in the group chat and called each other.
The prosecution also suspects they attempted to conceal evidence in an organized manner by editing the phone call records as the investigation drew nearer,
and publicly announced the launch of the investigation to the press to give a hint to their accomplices.
“The defendants acted as cyber wreckers on the pretext of taking the law into their own hands and conducted a predatory crime that profited on blackmail, such as accepting bribes in return for not leaking weaknesses,” a prosecution official said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
