Yang in Her 20s and Yong in His 40s
Indicted for Attempted Extortion of Son Heungmin
On June 10, two individuals?a man and a woman?were indicted and detained for attempting to extort money by claiming that the national football team captain, Son Heungmin (33, Tottenham Hotspur), had fathered a child with the woman.
The Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Sunho) announced that on this day, a woman in her 20s, surnamed Yang, was indicted and detained on charges of extortion and attempted extortion. Her accomplice, a man in his 40s surnamed Yong, was also indicted on charges of attempted extortion.
According to prosecutors, Yang, an acquaintance of Son, sent him an ultrasound image of a fetus in June last year and threatened to expose that she was pregnant with his child, thereby extorting 300 million won from him.
Initially, Yang had planned to inform another man?not Son?about her pregnancy and demand money, but when he did not respond, she then told Son that she was pregnant with his child and demanded money from him. Prosecutors believe that Son, fearing damage to his public reputation and athletic career, handed over 300 million won to Yang.
Yang squandered the extorted money on luxury goods and, after falling into financial hardship again, conspired with Yong?who had become her romantic partner?to threaten Son between March and May of this year. They threatened to expose the pregnancy and abortion to the media and Son's family, attempting to extort an additional 70 million won but ultimately failed.
During the initial police investigation, the attempted extortion was believed to have been committed by Yong alone. However, the prosecution confirmed their conspiracy through additional digital forensics on confiscated mobile phones and account tracing. The prosecution stated, "We will do our utmost to ensure that the defendants receive sentences commensurate with their crimes."
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