Threat of Private Life Exposure... Chat Name 'Even If Everything Is Known'
Seoul Central District Court Sentences 2 Years Imprisonment
A man in his 40s who threatened to expose the private life of his ex-lover and wielded a weapon to intimidate her was sentenced to two years in prison.
On the 24th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 19 announced that it recently sentenced Mr. A (44), who was indicted on charges of violating the Stalking Punishment Act, special threats, and special assault, to two years in prison and ordered him to complete 40 hours of a stalking treatment program. In January 2022, after being notified of the breakup by his lover, Ms. B, Mr. A secretly entered her residence, checked old photos, family relation certificates, bankbook records, and searched through her old mobile phone, leading to his prosecution.
Subsequently, Mr. A used the private information he obtained from Ms. B’s phone as leverage to continuously threaten her, saying things like, "You cannot end this until I say so, and you must not be happy," and "If you get married, I will expose everything to your husband." He also set his KakaoTalk profile name to "Even if everything is revealed, will the world only blame me?" to threaten Ms. B’s acquaintances with exposing her private life, thereby forcing her to maintain the relationship with him.
In February of last year, when Ms. B again told him she wanted to break up at her residence, Mr. A threatened her by wielding a weapon, and in August of the same year, he strangled her neck while wielding scissors. Even after Ms. B notified him in October that "this is really the last time, do not contact me anymore," he visited her residence, watched her, and called her. Eventually, when the victim reported him to the police, Mr. A changed his KakaoTalk profile name to "If there’s no answer by tomorrow, let’s end everything," and made 125 calls over two days, sending about 1,000 text and KakaoTalk messages, saying, "What were you thinking when you reported me?" and "If the police call again, I will sue you too."
The court pointed out, "He obsessively intruded into the victim’s residence, searched her belongings, assaulted and threatened her, showing very bad criminal behavior." It added, "The victim suffered extreme mental distress and is pleading for severe punishment," and explained, "Considering that he had previously been criminally punished for similar offenses due to obsession with an ex-lover before this case, a prison sentence is inevitable."
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