The ex-lover of late K-pop star, Goo Hara, was sentenced to jail by an appeal court on Thursday over apparent blackmail threats to leak her sex videos that contributed to her suicide.
Goo Hara – a K-pop star of dissolved girl group Kara – in 2018 called attention to the blackmailing by her ex-boyfriend to her.
A CCTV clip was retrieved showing Goo Hara pleading before her former lover seemingly begging him not to release the tapes.
Goo was found dead in November last year. She was suspected of having taken her own life due to the constant cyberbullying about the sex tapes.
The ex-lover, Choi Jong-bum, was already convicted last year of crimes including blackmail and inflicting injuries but was given a suspended jail term.
The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday dealt a more substantial jail sentence, a year in prison. The court, providing the rationale for the decision:
“[Choi] was well aware that the degree of damage would be very serious if the sex videos were leaked, given that the victim was a famous celebrity.”
The court found no conclusive evidence that the K-pop star did not consent to be filmed.
Goo’s death followed a month after Sulli, another K-pop star took her own life due to the relentless cyberbullying she experienced.
Source: Bangkok Post
