Lawyer Who Extorted Tzuyang Ordered to Pay 73.1M Won

[26.06.21] Lawyer Who Extorted Tzuyang Ordered to Pay 73.1M Won… The Heavy Price of Privacy Invasion and Defamation

The court has brought the hammer down on Choi, a lawyer who threatened to expose the private life of Tzuyang (real name Park Jung-won)—a famous mukbang YouTuber with 10 million subscribers—extorted money, and leaked her sensitive personal information to so-called 'cyber wreckers' (malicious gossip YouTubers). The Seoul Central District Court ordered Choi to pay 73.1 million KRW in damages to Tzuyang in a civil lawsuit. This unprecedented case, where a legal professional weaponized his status to destroy an individual's life, has sparked massive outrage. We take a deep dive into the specific grounds for the court's compensation order, the severity of spreading false information, and the direction of ongoing related trials.

📌 Detailed Summary of the 1st Instance Verdict

Category	Major Details	Remarks
The Court	Seoul Central District Court, Civil Division 90 (Judge Kim Yoo-sung)	1st Instance Verdict rendered on May 21, 2026
Verdict Result	Partial Victory for Plaintiff (Ordered to pay 73.1 million KRW)	The defendant's countersuit was entirely dismissed.
Compensation Breakdown	Extorted funds (23.1M) + Revenue loss (30M) + Emotional distress (20M)	Partially accepted out of the 150 million KRW claimed.
Related Criminal Penalty	Sentenced to 1 year 6 months in prison, suspended for 2 years	Conviction finalized for extortion and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

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1. The Beginning of the Incident: A Legal Expert's Betrayal and Extortion Disguised as a 'PR Contract'

The reason this incident shocked the public so deeply was that the perpetrator was none other than a 'lawyer'. While handling matters related to Tzuyang's deceased ex-boyfriend, Choi was in a position to access highly sensitive information, including Tzuyang's resident registration abstract, home address, contract details, alleged tax evasion documents, and deeply private matters. However, instead of handling this information within legal boundaries, he weaponized it to pressure her.

Choi began threatening Tzuyang's camp by secretly passing these details to YouTubers like 'Gujeok' (real name Lee Jun-hee). His method was highly manipulative. In exchange for suppressing the threats, he forced Tzuyang to sign a so-called 'Crisis Management PR Contract'. While it was packaged as legal advice and media response consulting, it was, in reality, pure extortion—demanding hush money. Left with no choice, Tzuyang signed the contract and was subsequently robbed of a staggering 23.1 million KRW. The 23.1 million KRW that the court recently ordered him to return constitutes the principal amount of this illegal extortion.

2. "Public Interest Whistleblowing? Nonsense"… Fatal Secondary Victimization via Info Leaks

During the trial, Choi's legal team strongly argued that his actions were justifiable, claiming the information leak was 'public interest whistleblowing' meant to expose Tzuyang's alleged tax evasion. However, the court was resolute. It entirely rejected this defense, categorizing Choi's actions as a clear 'Violation of the Personal Information Protection Act'.

"The leaked personal information is intimately related to her private life and consists of fatal details that could easily be abused for secondary crimes. Given that the recipients were all 'YouTubers', the defendant must have been fully aware that the potential for rapid spread and dissemination was exceptionally high."

The court focused not just on the fact that information was leaked, but on 'who' received it. Handing over private details to 'cyber wreckers'—who routinely post sensational, malicious content for views—was practically inciting a social witch hunt and facilitating secondary victimization against Tzuyang. This served as strong evidence that there was no legitimate or justifiable purpose for providing the information.

3. The Most Vicious Crime: Defamation through a Falsified Suicide Note

One of the most severe aspects the court reprimanded when establishing liability was the 'fabrication and dissemination of the deceased's suicide note'. Choi personally appeared on a YouTube broadcast and revealed a copy of the suicide note left by Tzuyang's late ex-boyfriend. The glaring issue was that it was not the original; it had been manipulated, with contents selectively deleted to favor Choi's narrative.

Choi presented this falsified document as if it were the original and peddled the false claim that he "merely provided materials related to Tzuyang to YouTubers following the deceased's instructions." This malicious defamation misled public opinion, falsely implying Tzuyang was responsible for the death, and left an indelible scar. The court fiercely criticized this illegal act, noting it severely and irreversibly damaged Tzuyang's social reputation and positive image.

4. The Meaning Behind 73.1M Won: The Court's Progressive Recognition of Lost Revenue

Although Tzuyang's side initially claimed 150 million KRW, the court set the compensation at 73.1 million KRW. Even though the full amount wasn't granted, the detailed breakdown of the compensation holds highly significant legal weight.

[Analysis of the Court's Compensation Calculation (73.1M KRW)]

• Principal Extortion Amount (23.1M KRW): Full restitution of the money extorted through the coercive 'PR contract'.
• Loss of YouTube and Ad Revenue (30M KRW): The court officially recognized a substantial causal relationship between Choi's illegal acts (spreading false information, leaking data) causing Tzuyang's image to plummet, and her actual 'loss of sales/revenue'.
• Compensation for Emotional Distress (20M KRW): Financial compensation for the extreme fear, privacy invasion, and mental anguish the plaintiff suffered due to the defamation.

The court did not accept the entirety of the revenue loss claimed by Tzuyang due to the legal limitation that "YouTube revenue fluctuates based on various variables, making it difficult to prove that the defendant's actions alone caused the entire financial loss." However, the fact that the court included a creator's direct 'loss of sales' resulting from cyber defamation and exposure within the scope of civil damages serves as a groundbreaking precedent for future cybercrime lawsuits.

5. A Chain of Trials: What is the Fate of the 'Cyber Wrecker' Alliance?

While the civil lawsuit against Lawyer Choi has concluded, the legal war against the 'cyber wreckers' surrounding Tzuyang is still very much ongoing. The appellate trial for the damages lawsuit against YouTubers Gujeok and Jujak Inspector—who received information from Choi and directly extorted tens of millions of won using Tzuyang's privacy as leverage—is currently underway.

Previously, the first-instance court recognized their malicious extortion and delivered a strong verdict, ordering "Gujeok to pay 75 million KRW, and Jujak Inspector to jointly pay 50 million KRW." In separate criminal trials, they received heavy sentences of 3 years in prison (Gujeok) and 1 year in prison suspended for 3 years (Jujak Inspector). The appellate sentencing for their civil damages lawsuit is scheduled for the 21st of next month.

📝 Final In-Depth Summary: The court has delivered a severe judgment against Lawyer Choi, ordering him to pay 73.1 million KRW for extorting YouTuber Tzuyang and spreading false information. The ruling thoroughly recognized the illegality of leaking personal information—disguised as whistleblowing to incite secondary victimization—and defaming her by fabricating a deceased person's suicide note. Notably, including the creator's actual revenue drop caused by cyberbullying within the scope of damages is highly significant. This verdict will undoubtedly serve as a heavy warning for the upcoming appellate rulings of Gujeok and other cyber wreckers.