Gyujaeyuk (real name Lee Jun-hee) has been sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly blackmailing YouTuber Tzyang (real name Park Jung-won) and taking millions of won.
Park I-rang, the judge at the Suwon District Court's Criminal Division 14, sentenced Gyujaeyuk to this punishment and ordered immediate detention on the 20th for charges including extortion.
Jujak the fraud examiner (real name Jeon Guk-jin), who was indicted as an accomplice in the extortion case, received a sentence of one year in prison with a three-year probation and 160 hours of community service.
Karakurla (real name Lee Se-wook) and Crocodile (real name Choi Il-hwan), who were indicted for aiding Gyujaeyuk's acts of extortion, received sentences of one year in prison with three years of probation, 240 hours of community service, and fines of 5 million won each.
Judge Park noted, "Gyujaeyuk and the defendants often discussed obtaining economic benefits under the pretext of private lives in a KakaoTalk chat room called 'Online Tow Truck Mutual Aid Association,'" adding, "It seems that their awareness of illegality has been dulled during this mutual exchange process."
Judge Park stated about Gyujaeyuk, "The amount extorted from the victim is considerable, and there has been no recovery for the victim," and added, "Since this case became public, Gyujaeyuk has shown signs of trying to manipulate public opinion by claiming to have helped Park Jung-won and did not show remorse in court."
Regarding accomplice Jujak the fraud examiner, the judge noted, "The defendant acknowledges the crime and did not lead the extortion act; the benefits acquired were relatively small at 3 million won, among other considerations."
As for Karakurla's sentencing reasons, the judge said, "The fact that he acknowledged aiding in the extortion of Park Jung-won, that the victim does not wish for the defendant's punishment, and that he paid 20 million won in court were among the considerations."
The court found Gyujaeyuk not guilty of the charge of threatening Tzyang and her former agency's representative in 2021 with the intent of producing and exposing a video of Tzyang's private life, reasoning that posting the video would not significantly restrict the victim's decision-making.
Gyujaeyuk and Jujak the fraud examiner were arrested on August 14 of last year for allegedly extorting 55 million won from Tzyang by threatening her, saying, "I have received reports about your tax evasion and private life issues; if you pay me, I won't make this public."
Gyujaeyuk demanded that Tzyang promote a restaurant owned by his acquaintance, saying, "If you do not wish it to be made public," he forced her to fish for dirt on her. In October 2021, he also threatened her, saying he would post a video stating that she was harassing small business owners by filing lawsuits.
Karakurla and Crocodile are accused of suggesting extortion to Gyujaeyuk, stating, "It is more profitable to extort money directly than to post expose videos about Tzyang."
On this day, attorney Choi, who was indicted for extorting 23.1 million won from Tzyang under the pretext of 'crisis management PR' related to her personal life (including charges of extortion, violation of personal information protection laws, and violations of lawyer law), received a sentence of two years in prison.
Judge Park explained the sentencing reasons: "The defendant is an attorney and a journalist who must uphold professional ethics, and especially as an attorney, it is their mission to defend basic human rights and realize social justice," yet added, "The defendant used the fact that he knew Park Jung-won's private information to demand promotions for his company's products and gained economic benefits."
Regarding the allegations that attorney Choi aided Gyujaeyuk's extortion, along with charges of coercion and violation of business secrets, he was found not guilty.
With the sentencing of Gyujaeyuk and attorney Choi on this day, they were all placed under immediate detention.