Lee Byung Hun‘s so-called “five million dollar blackmail case” has finally come to an end, concluding the controversy five months after it was brought to public light.
On January 15th, the Seoul Provincial Courthouse proceeded to finalize judgment on Lee Byung Hun’s case for Glam‘s Dahee and model Lee Ji Yeon, following their prosecution in September. Lee Byung Hun was not present in the courtroom today, due to his residency in the United States.
Lee Ji Yeon and Dahee were accused of blackmailing Lee Byung Hun for five million dollars with secret video footage from his personal dinner table; they were both prosecuted on September 30th, 2014.
The court stated, “Overall, it does not look like Lee Ji Yeon had done what she had done due to a sudden breakup in the relationship with Lee Byung Hun. In fact, it seems more like she had planned the crime for financial reasons. Therefore, no excuses from the victims can be taken into account and all facts lead them to be guilty.” The court continued, “this is the defendants’ first crime, and was stopped before maturity with the video clip not being spread. Also, it can be considered that the crime was not organized in group. However, the victim was recorded on camera making a sexual joke and was blackmailed with this video for five million dollars.”
The court added on to their earlier statement, “Lee Ji Yeon is stubbornly claiming that she is in relationship with the victim and causing defamation of character while the court is in place. A prison sentence is most likely at this point, however, even though the victim is a famous celebrity with his own family, the victim had created the environment for the controversy to occur by meddling with those who were many years younger than him, mentioning sexual jokes.” The court later sentenced Lee Ji Yeon to a prison time of one year and two months, and Kim Dahee for one year in prison.
The prosecutor stated on December 16th, 2014 at the third hearing, “the defendants saw the victim (Lee Byung Hun) as a target for blackmail and committed their crime. Although it ended prematurely, the amount of money blackmailed reached five million dollars and the use of a video containing a private life of an individual suggest that the nature of the offense was very malicious.” The prosecutor suggested three years in prison for both of them at the time.
While the court was taking place, during her final statement, Lee Ji Yeon spoke as she cried, “I believe I’ve created a lot of issues socially, and I apologize for such actions. I do condemn myself for taking such immature actions. I also apologize to my family who I love dearly.”
Dahee also cried during her statement while saying, “I apologize for causing great worries to many people. I am very sorry to the victim as well and wanted to be given a chance to apologize but I apologize for not being able to. I’d like to also apologize to my parents and older sister (Lee Ji Yeon).”
During the trial, the prosecutor also mentioned that, “Signs of Lee Ji Yeon and Lee Byung Hun being in a relationship were not found especially since the number of times the two met personally was in fact very little. In fact, Lee Ji Yeon was in relationship with another man during this period.”
Source: TV Report
