Famous mukbang YouTuber Tsuyang (real name Park Jung-won), who has over 10 million subscribers, was threatened and extorted tens of millions of won by YouTuber Guje Yeok (real name Lee Jun-hee), who is accused of aiding in the extortion, and they have been arrested and handed over for trial.
The investigation by the prosecution revealed that this case was not a personal indulgence but an organized and planned crime committed by a cyber record YouTuber group.
The Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office’s Criminal Department 2 (Director Jung Hyun-seung) and Criminal Department 5 (Director Cheon Dae-won) indicted YouTuber Guje Yeok (real name Lee Jun-hee) and Zhujavax Examiner (real name Jeon Gook-jin) on charges of coercion. At the same time, they indicted Kara Kulya (real name Lee Se-wook) for aiding and abetting coercion and prosecuted Crocodile (real name Choi Il-hwan) without detention on the same charge.
Guje Yeok and Zhujavax Examiner are accused of extorting 55 million won from Tsuyang in February 2023, threatening to disclose tax evasion and privacy issues related to Tsuyang and blackmailing for money to prevent the disclosure. Guje Yeok especially emphasized his power by saying that to manage YouTubers and journalists to prevent the disclosure of the information, around 50 million won needed to be paid.
Additionally, they demanded Tsuyang to promote a restaurant owned by Guje Yeok’s acquaintance, forced Tsuyang to film, and threatened to release a video accusing Tsuyang of making nuisance lawsuits against small business owners in October 2021.
Kara Kulya and Crocodile are accused of persuading Guje Yeok with the idea that extorting money directly is more profitable than uploading an expose video about Tsuyang. They are also accused of coercing another victim outside Tsuyang.
They are also suspected of extorting 30 million won (Kara Kulya) and 22 million won (Guje Yeok) by threatening another scam coin scam of an AfreecaTV BJ in June 2022 and October 2021, respectively.
After receiving a complaint against Guje Yeok and Zhujavax Examiner on 16th last month, the prosecution applied for arrest warrants and subsequently arrested them on the 26th of the same month. Kara Kulya was also arrested on the 2nd of this month.
According to the investigation, they claimed to be ‘Korea Online Towing Truck Association’ and strengthened their connections through regular meetings, associations, etc., and searched for targets through KakaoTalk group chats before sharing relevant information in real-time.
Even in the Tsuyang case, Guje Yeok was found to have received relevant tips and shared them in the group chat room immediately and discussed the crime in an organized and planned manner to encourage or advise each other.
Furthermore, it is reported that they attempted to destroy evidence and immediately made the situation public to the media after the investigation began to prepare other accomplices.
The prosecution is also investigating additional cases, such as Guje Yeok’s defamation of Tsuyang, and is currently conducting investigations.
Hwang Woo-jin, chief prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office, said at a briefing on the day, “The defendants engaged in predatory crimes by profit modeling extortion crimes, including exploitation of vulnerabilities and revelation of personal information related to specific individuals through cyber wreck car activities on YouTube, in addition to advertising revenues from the increase in subscribers.
On the other hand, the prosecution initially requested an arrest warrant for the lawyer Choi Mo, who violated the Personal Information Protection Act and leaked business secrets during the investigation into the coercion of Tsuyang, but it was rejected. However, after additional investigation, they reapplied for an arrest warrant on the same day on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act and leaking business secrets.