A female streamer (also known as BJ) on the Korean platform AfreecaTV has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for blackmailing singer and music director Kim Jun Su with billions of won.
Ten Asia reported on June 24 that the Supreme Court of South Korea, chaired by Judge Lee Heung Goo, rejected the appeal of the defendant, who was accused of violating the Law on Enhancing the Penalty for Special Economic Crimes ( extortion), thereby maintaining a 7-year prison sentence.
The female streamer was prosecuted and detained for threatening Kim Jun Su from September 2020 to October 2023, blackmailing a total of 840 million won (more than 15 billion VND). Through investigation, the defendant is said to have recorded private conversations with Kim and threatened to spread them on social media to put pressure.
The court of first instance sentenced him to 7 years in prison and determined: "The defendant took advantage of the victim's weaknesses for a long time, appropriated a large sum of money and caused serious mental damage".
The appellate court upheld the verdict and ordered the confiscation of a mobile phone and a smartphone used in the crime.
Finally, the Supreme Court rejected the defendant's appeal, thereby officially taking effect the 7-year sentence.
Previously, at the trial on February 6, 2025, the defendant defended her against being addicted to propofol (a substance used in medicine for anesthesia) for crime in order to have money to buy propofol. The defendant said he regretted his wrongdoings. The Uijeongbu District Court sentenced BJ to 7 years in prison and she filed an appeal.
The blackmailed male singer is Kim Junsu, born in 1986, a former member of the famous band TVXQ from 2003 to 2009. After that, he, Kim Jae Joong and Park Yoochun formed the group JYJ (2010-2016). In 2021, Junsu founded Palm Tree Island, officially self-managing her artistic career. The male star is famous in both solo singing and music.
The singer born in 1986 owns many valuable properties, including a villa worth 2.6 billion won, a house worth 1.8 billion won, and a land on Jeju Island worth 15 billion won. Jun Su alone has nearly 20 billion won in real estate.
