Eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and 120 hours of community service

An owner of a car rental business, identified as A, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, along with 120 hours of community service, after being convicted of extortion in connection with an idol couple.

The ruling, handed down on Oct. 18 by Incheon District Court’s Criminal Division 14-1, Judge Gong Woo-jin found A guilty of the charge. Prosecutors said that after returning a car rented by a member of a girl group, A checked the dashcam footage and learned that she had shown skinship with a male member of another boy group. He then threatened the girl group member, asking, “What did you do in the back seat?” and even named the male idol’s group, adding that if she did not admit it, “there’s nothing we can do on this end.” He demanded half of the car’s purchase price, amounting to 23.5 million won (the stated 47 million won purchase price).

However, A continued to threaten to disclose the skinship even after the money was paid.

The court noted that about 9.79 million won remitted by the victim under coercion had since been returned, but it still considered the extent of the extortion and the amount involved in handing down the sentence, noting that the crime occurred during the period of the suspended sentence.