October 01, 2014 10:01
Two young women accused of blackmailing acting star Lee Byung-hun will face trial. They are a member of a K-pop girl group identified by her surname Kim (20) and a model surnamed Lee (25).
The pair allegedly threatened to publish a video clip in which the actor is heard to make lewd remarks unless he paid them W5 billion (US$1=W1,056).
Prosecutors say the two women met the actor through a mutual friend who runs a club. They were in need of money. Two days after they first met, they secretly recorded the actor while drinking at the model's house.
Since Lee met them several more times, the model became convinced he was attracted to her. Prosecutors learned that the women believed Lee would agree to buy the model a home and give her cash if she went out with him.
On Aug. 14, the actor visited the model's home and she asked him to buy her a house where they would be able to be alone together, but Lee sent her a message instead saying they should stop seeing each other.
On Aug. 29, the model invited Lee to visit her home and concocted a scheme to videotape him hugging her but was unable to get him to do that.
The two women then told Lee that they had videotaped him making lewd comments and warned that releasing the images would damage his reputation. They showed Lee a portion of the video and placed a large bag in front of him, telling him to pay them W5 billion.
Lee immediately left the house and called the police. The two women were arrested on Sept. 1.
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