The side of YouTuber Gujaeyeok (real name Lee June-hee), whose three-year prison sentence was finalized after being sent to trial on charges of extorting money by blackmailing YouTuber Tzuyang (real name Park Jeong-won), said it will file a judicial review petition.
According to legal sources on the 13th, attorney Kim So-yeon of Hwang & C Law Firm, Gujaeyeok's legal representative, said on social media the previous day, "I previously received a mandate from Lee June-hee regarding a judicial review petition and a complaint for the crime of legal distortion," and stated accordingly.
Attorney Kim said, "We are only grateful to the Democratic Party of Korea and President Lee Jae-myung, who pushed the three judicial reform laws, including the judicial review petition and the crime of legal distortion, so that we can correct what was clearly an unconstitutional investigation and trial." She continued, "We will do our best to uncover the substance of this case and correct the wrong parts," and also released a handwritten letter by Gujaeyeok.
The so-called "three judicial laws," including the revised Constitutional Court Act that allows a judicial review petition to the Constitutional Court against finalized court rulings, were promulgated the previous day. According to the Constitutional Court, 20 judicial review petitions were filed in just one day the previous day.
The Supreme Court dismissed Gujaeyeok's appeal in the appeal trial over charges including blackmail and finalized the lower court's ruling the previous day. Accordingly, the three-year prison term handed down in the first and second trials remained in place.
In 2023, Gujaeyeok was sent to trial on charges of extorting 55 million won by threatening to expose Tzuyang's private life. YouTuber Jujak Gambyulsa (real name Jeon Guk-jin), who was indicted as an accomplice, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years.
Both the first- and second-instance courts found that "the amount extorted from the victim is not small and there has been no restitution," and that "even in court there was no display of remorse."
Separately from the criminal case, Gujaeyeok's liability was also recognized in the civil lawsuit. In Oct. last year, the court ruled in the damages suit filed by Tzuyang against Gujaeyeok and Jujak Gambyulsa that Gujaeyeok must pay 75 million won to Tzuyang. Of that amount, 50 million won was ordered to be paid jointly with Jujak Gambyulsa.