Prosecutors sought a five-year prison term for a woman in her 20s who claimed to Son Heung-min (33), captain of the Korea men's national soccer team, that she was carrying "your child" and demanded hundreds of millions of won. A man in his 40s who was her accomplice faced a two-year term.
On the 27th, at the sentencing hearing held under the Criminal Division 20 single-judge bench of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lim Jeong-bin), prosecutors sought five years in prison for a person surnamed Yang (28, female) and two years for a person surnamed Yong (40, male).
Prosecutors said, "Yang claims to be a victim, saying the money was compensation for mental suffering, but it cannot be 100% consistent with the substantive truth," adding, "Given the thorough planning of the crime, the case is serious, the nature of the crime is egregious, and the victim likely suffered considerable mental distress."
Regarding Yong, they said, "He made threats 15 times to extort money, making the nature of the crime extremely egregious," while asking the court to "take into account that he fully confessed to the crime and cooperated with the investigation."
Yang, who had been in a romantic relationship with Son Heung-min, is accused of sending a fetal ultrasound image to Son in June last year, claiming pregnancy, and extorting 300 million won. Yong, Yang's boyfriend, is also accused of attempted extortion for demanding 70 million won in March this year.
Son Heung-min's side filed a complaint against them for extortion in May. The Gangnam Police Station, which received the case, arrested the two on the 14th of the same month, detained them on the 17th, and transferred them to the prosecution in custody on the 22nd. The prosecution then indicted Yang and Yong last month on detention for trial.