The 31-year-old bar hostess accused of blackmailing the late actor Lee Sun-kyun has been released on bail amid an ongoing criminal trial.
According to local media reports, the Incheon District Court on June 26 granted the defendant bail ahead of the sentencing hearing for her appellate trial, scheduled for July 16. She had been in custody since Dec. 31, after being sentenced to three years and six months in prison in a lower court ruling.
Authorities revealed the defendant has a prior criminal record, having served jail time for drug use in 2017 while on probation for a separate drug conviction the previous year.
The defendant and a 30-year-old former actress are suspected of blackmailing Lee during a drug investigation in 2023. The actress was convicted of blackmail and sentenced to four years and two months in prison. She has also filed an appeal.
The two women, who reportedly met in prison, were once close friends. According to investigators, the actress pretended to be a hacker who discovered sensitive information about Lee’s drug case on the hostess’s phone, then used that to extort money from the actor.
The hostess allegedly received 300 million won (about $219,600) from Lee, claiming her phone had been hacked and she needed the money to “keep things quiet.” Lee also gave 50 million won to the actress.
In court, the hostess claimed she had been manipulated by the actress. However, judges noted that the hostess herself had set the extortion amount and played a key role in the scheme.
As for the actress, the court ruled that she had actively threatened Lee, leveraging their relationship. One text message, disclosed by local media, showed the actress warning Lee that she would go public with the information unless he handed over all the money given to the hostess.
“I hope you won’t lose your honor because of that druggie Gangnam hostess,” she wrote in a message, further stating the hostess would “100 percent” lie about the money and eventually be arrested.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
